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THE 



TEMPLE OF PLEASURE 



ca 



SEEING LIFE. 



BY 



THE REV. J. W. BONHAM, 

CHURCH EVANGELIST. 



Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and 

Sound an alarm in my holy mountain ; 

Let al the inhabitants of the land tremble, 

For the Day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand. 



-1 



V / Or WAS**! 1 

NEW YORK : 



WM. B. MUCKLOW, PUBLISHER, 

FOiiTY-SECOND STREET AND MADISON AVENUE. 

1877. 




COPYRIGHT, 1S77, 
BY Jo W. BO^HAM 



\ 

TO 
MY DEAR 
FRIEND AND 
CHRISTIAN BROTHER 
HENRI L. F * * * * * ESQ., 
WHO FOR YEARS ABLY PRESIDED 
AT THE ORGAN WITH MANY PIPES; 
WHICH HE PRESENTED TO THE CHURCH 
AS A THANK-OFFERING TO ALMIGHTY GOD, 
FOR HIS MANY MERCIES : AND ALSO WITH HIS 
ESTIMABLE WIFE, GRATUITOUSLY AND CHEER- 
FULLY LED THE PUBLIC PRAISES OF 
THE APPRECIATIVE WORSHIPPERS, 
IN THE CHURCH OF THE 
1* *** P * * * * PA., 
ASS A TOKEN OF 
ESTEEM FOR 
A LIBERAL 
VESTRYMAN, 
AND ONE OF ZION'S SWEET SINGERS, 
AND AS A REMEMBRANCER OF 
BRIGHT BEAMS OF SUNSHINE IN TIMES 
OF DARKNESS AND SORROW, THIS 
VOLUME IS GLADLY DEDICATED 
BY THE AUTHOR. 



Contents, 



CHAP. PAGE. 

I. THE GODDESS AND HER TEMPLE • 7 

II. THE CORRUPTING LIBRARY 10 

HL THE BALL-ROOM 23 

IV. SOME PROFESSED CHRISTIANS DANCE 33 

V. THE SALOON OF BACCHUS 38 

VI. THE TEMPLE'S GAMBLING HELL 44 

VH. THE RELENTLESS MAELSTROM 48 

Vin. THE THEATRE 51 

IX. SHOULD CHRISTIANS VISIT THEATRES 63 

X. THE HOUSE OF DEATH 79 

XX IMPLORING CRIES FOR HELP AND VENGEANCE 89 

XII. SOLOMON'S IRONICAL MANDATE AND SOLEMN WARNING... 98 

XHL ST. AUGUSTINE AND THE FALLEN GLADIATOR, 104 

XIV. MERCY FOR THE TEMPLE'S SIN-SICK 109 

XV. THE GRAND FINALE 112 

XVI. THE SPECIFIC OBJECT OF TME DAY OF DOOM 117 

XVH. THE NEW HEAVENS AND THE NEW EARTH 126 

XVIII. THE NEW SONG AND GRAND DOXOLOGY 138 



Preface 



This little volume has not been "printed "by request/' The 
manuscript was not " submitted " to any "learned and very deer 
brother," nor, " through his earnest persuasion, given to the 
printer." The writer is aware that to "the sinners in Zion,"the 
book will not give pleasure. But, as he labors as an Evangelist, 
and has no " pews to rent," without annoyance through the threat, 
" I will give up my pew ? " he can obey the mandate : 

Cry aloud, and spare not ; lift up thy voice like a trumpet, 
And show my people their transgression, 
And the house of Israel their sins. 

Some may feel annoyed ; but it will be in vain for any to advise 
him to confine his preaching to " the wickedness of the ante-diluvians/* 
" the stiff-neckedness of the Jews/ 7 and " the beautiful mosaic of 
the ecclesiastical year." He is not unaware that he has made 
ample work for book reviewers; for the dyspeptic critic can attack 
the cheerful parts, and the cheerful critic the portions that are 
solemn. But reviewers, like divines, on the same points differ; 
and some, who write book notices, " as per party contract," examine 
only title-page and index, and publish a review. 



PREFACE. 

THE DESIGN OF HIS VOLUME. 

To denounce worldly pleasure, and anathametize those who in- 
dulge therein, is not the author's object. When a house _s in flames 
the firemen loudly cry to arouse the sleeping inmates to escape the 
great danger; and the minister should blow the church trumpet 
to alarm Zion's slumbers when the Judge is at the door. The 
author has endeavored to depict the evils of Pleasure's Temple, 
and the attractions of the New Jerusalem, to allure the young to be 
led by the hand of Mercy, to sing the new song and the grand 
Doxology. Because places of sinful amusement are not heavenly 
places in Christ Jesus, and those in whom the Holy Ghost has im- 
planted the new nature, have not the tastes of the unregenerate, 
and those converted to Christianity must not act like the heathen, 
St. Paul exhorts, saying : " Thus 1 say therefore and testify in the 
Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity 
of their minds." 

Since the above was in type, at the Triennial Church Convention 
now in session in Boston, the following Episcopal warning was 
sounded through the trumpet of the Secretary to House of Clerical 
and Lay delegates, viz. : That the House of Bishops wish to im- 
press the clergy with the solemnity of the duty of encouraging 
temperance and the strictest morality, and that they preach and 
plead earnestly against gambling, visiting improper places, and 
committing the crime of * * * *. 

May each reader accept the mercy that is in Christ Jesus, and sing : 

More purity give me, more strength to o'ercome ; 
Mor« freedom from earth-stains, more longings for home ; 
More fit for the kingdom, more used would I be ; 
More blessed and holy, more Savior like Thee. 

Kbw York, Oct. 15, 1877. 



The Goddess and Her Temple, 




OLUPTAS, the Mythological Goddess ol 
Pleasure, is represented as youthful, beau- 
tiful and richly adorned. In ancient Rome 
she had a temple in which she was wor- 
shipped. Her votaries beheld her seated on her 
throne, having Virtue under her feet. Compart- 
ments of the temple of sinful pleasure exist in 
nearly every city, town and village. The ardent 
imagination of youth dreams that the gorgeous and 
imposing temple is a solid structure upon a firm 
foundation, and as the entrance is arched with the 
bow of promise, that there is harmony between its 
external allurements and internal pleasures. Al- 
lured by the temple' s corridors, and columns, and 
pinnacles and dome, and the dazzling lights, and 
the bewitching strains of music, he is anxious to 
enter. Having heard that religion does not require 
the body to be attired in cowl and sack-cloth, nor 
the soul to be flagellated with penances, nor that 
the eye be closed to the charms of beauty, nor that 



8 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE, 

the heart never thrill with emotions of gladness, 
he is inclined to enter the temple once, not to be 
tainted with the stain of any sin, but ' ' to just see 
life." Before his ardent imagination 

THE GODDESS OF PLEASURE APPEARS. 

Waiving her magic wand, she creates an optical 
illusion of the temple' s interior attractions, and the 
adjacent gardens of pleasure, and bowers of delight. 
Under her influence the excited youth beholds light 
arcades, decorated halls, gorgeous draperies, costly 
paintings, speaking statuary, sparkling fountains, 
the merry inmates drinking luscious wines, and 
pleasure's priests wafting censors of fragrant in- 
cense, and the smoke mounting in wreaths to the 
decorated dome. With sweet bewitching voice the 
goddess urges him to enter, promising that gay ones 
shall greet him, and ecstatic music thrill him ; and 
that for him with her own hand she will mingle the 
sweetened cup, wreath his brow with the garland of 
joy, and beguile him with her blandishments ! But 
yield not to her enchantment ! She is a goddess 
masked ! The entrance to her temple is attractive ! 
The exit is dark and terrible ! Be not allured by 
any means to enter ! Those who enter joyfully 
emerge in awful agony ! 



THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 9 

A ROYAL WARNING! 

Solomon, who was a great lover of pleasure, and 
withheld not his heart from any joy, entered every 
department of the temple, till his revellings palled 
upon his senses. But he emerged in wretched- 
ness, groaning in the tone of a disappointed 
demigod, " Vanity of vanities, all is vanity /" 
— literally, Lie of lies, all is a lie ! Though the 
king entered and escaped destruction, such sorrow 
trod in his path that his misery almost exceeded 
the woe of man. With his silvery locks, and fur- 
rowed brow, he stands before you, and in earnest 
tones utters words of warning. And while he does 
not prohibit rational enjoyment, necessary recrea- 
tion, and innocent amusement, he warns all who 
enter the temple of sinful pleasure, that for all these 
things God will bring them into judgment. There- 
fore, if superior rank, immense wealth, extensive 
observation, and painful experience can have any 
weight, heed this warning voice, and keep from the 
threshold of the temple, in a concealed part of 
which is a cruel Moloch, in whose burning arms 
many who enter die. 



CHAPTER IT 




The Temples Literature. 

HE agents of The Prince of Darkness 
avail themselves of the all-powerful Press. 
In one part of the temple of sinful pleas- 
ure is the corrupting library. The shelves 
bend beneath the weight of books that allure the 
soul to the world of woe. Many of the inmates 
have Bibles that were presented by friends ; but 
they are as unsoiled as when finished by the 
binder. Works based on inspired teaching, and 
others which would prepare them to grapple with 
life's stern realities, they cannot be induced to read. 
They have been forewarned that their character will 
be moulded by what they read. As the body as- 
similates the food that is eaten, so the mind trans- 
mutes the spirit of what is read. As wholesome 
food strengthens the tissues oi the body, so pure 



THE TEMPLE'S LITERATURE. 11 

literature invigorates the mind. As unwholesome 
food injures the body, so impure literature poisons 
the mind. As the dreams at night are influenced 
by the prominent thoughts of the day, so the ac- 
tions of the day are influenced by the books read 
and admired. 

COLERIDGE, THE DAY-DREAMER, 

Once gave a striking illustration. When a member 
of the " Blue-Coat School" he walked across the 
street mentally absorbed in his favorite hero, and 
imagined that he was swimming across the Helles- 
pont. In his fancied voyage he throws out his 
arms as if actually swimming. One hand coming 
in contact with a gentleman approaching from 
the opposite direction, the lad is accused of at- 
tempting to pick the stranger's pocket. With 
honest face and truthful tone the day-dreamer de- 
nies the charge, saying, "I thought I was swim- 
ming across the Hellespont, and I did not think of 
my hand coming in contact with any one in the wa- 
ter." This innocent and strange action was incited 
by what the youthful Coleridge had read and ad- 
mired. While good books incite virtuous thoughts 
and holy actions, bad books excite wicked thoughts 



12 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

and deeds of darkness. One about to enter the li- 
brary of the Temple of Pleasure has in his hand a 
warning leaflet, entitled 



PREVENTION BETTER THAN CURE, 



It sets forth that companionship is an exciting 
cause of trains of thought ; that the language, man- 
ners, spirit, and the entire character of associates, 
not only influence the mind while together, but 
prove causes of awakening trains of thought long 
after the time of separation ; that the same is true 
in reference to literary companions, for books be- 
come all controlling causes in exciting the current 
of our thoughts. The tract also sets forth that it 
requires no metaphysical acumen, no profound 
knowledge of mental philosophy to understand that, 
long trains of sinful musings and criminal imagin- 
ings fill the mind long after the novel-reader has 
thrown aside the favorite volume. As the conver- 
sation is audible, you can hear it without the mean- 
ness of secretly listening. 

" I hope, my dear young friend, that you will not 
cross the threshold of that library." 

"Why not? I must have some mental recrea- 



THE TEMPLE'S LITERATURE 13 

tion. I cannot read the Bible and the biographies 
of the departed pious all the time !" 

" You are not required to do this 'all the time? 
You may find superior mental recreation by read- 
ing what is elevating and pure and holy." 

"But are there no good books in the library of 
the Temple of Pleasure ?" 

" According to the record of the librarian such 
volumes are not called for. But when a new pas- 
sion-exciting book appears the demand exceeds the 
supply." 

" But few of the books that I took from the li- 
brary of the Sunday School, dwelt on sin and salva- 
tion, and death and judgment?" 

"As you are now older you should read works 
calculated to elevate your taste, improve your judg- 
ment, and establish moral character." 

" By perusing books from the library of my Sun- 
day School, I acquired a taste for fancy reading, 
and intend to gratify it." 

"The Rev. Dr. Forewar^er is to preach to 
young folks to-night. Will you accompany me to 
hear him % " 

" I have heard again and again the substance of 
so many sermons, 'My Dear Friend, be virtuous, 
and then you will be happy ! ' " 



14 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

" The bell is now ringing, and the place will soon 
be crowded. Let us hasten and we can talk by the 
way." 

"Is he a good speaker, and are his sermons 
short ? I abhor pulpit truisms, and hate protracted 
dullness." 

' ' The Doctor will surely interest you, for he 
speaks from a warm heart, and makes cold hearts 
feel. We have been shown to a good seat, and soon 
you may judge for yourself." The preliminary 
services have ended, and now we hear 

THE FOREWARNING SERMON. 

The text is St. Luke, vi. 45. " A good man out of 
the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that 
which is good ; and an evil man out of the evil 
treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is 
evil : for of the abundance of the heart his mouth 
speaketh." 

The text teacheth that man is swayed to do what 
is good, or what is evil, by the quality of his pre- 
ponderating thoughts. Because, " as a man think- 
eth in his heart, so is he^\ Christianity extends its 
dominion over the secrets of the heart, and aims to 
purify its concealed currents of thought. The 



THE TEMPLES LITERATURE. 15 

quality of right or wrong pertains to the invisible 
thoughts, as well as to the manifested actions. To 
God all hearts are open, and He searcheth the 
heart. From Him no secrets are hid, and not one 
can escape His all-seeing eye. The preacher, 
therefore, shows : First, that- cherished thoughts 
exert a controlling influence in the formation 
of moral character, and in shaping the outward 
actions. No passion of our nature can 1 o brought 
into activity till after the mind has thought of the 
object of that passion, formed conceptions concern- 
ing it, and dwelt on exaggerated views of the pleas- 
ures of indulgence. In the curtained theatre of the 
heart, passions enact their secret sins of lawless vio- 
lence on our moral nature. Those that do not blaze 
forth and blacken the outer man, often burn and 
scar the hidden man of the heart. Vile literature 
incite the evil thoughts that supply the fuel to the 
passion-fires that rage within the heart, and which 
are more consuming because they are concealed and 
burn virtue in the dark. Mental revelling in sin 
is known to God. He understandeth thy thoughts 
afar off. The preacher now sets forth, Second, that 

MAIS* IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SECRET THOUGHTS. 

Hatred is the spirit of murder. Covetousness is 



16 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

mental idolatry. Lustful thought is the essence of 
adultery. Meditated sin is actual in God's sight. 
He knoweth the thoughts of the heart. To him 
we must answer for their character. We must all 
appear, or be manifested, before the judgment seat 
of Christ. All secret sins will burst forth into vivid 
form by the revealing brightness of the great white 
throne. We cannot escape the guilt of cherished 
evil passions because concealed from mortal eye. 
Hark ! the trumpet' s awful sound ! 

Oh ! what fear it shall engender 
When the Judge shall come in splendor, 
- Strict to mark and just to render ! 
Book where every thought's recorded, 
All events all time afforded, 
Shall be brought, and dooms awarded ! 

In solemn words, with tremulous tones, the preach- 
er looks at us and closes, saying, " The formation of 
your religous character — your course of action and 

kind of influence in the world — your success and 
triumph in the great battle with foes within — your 

peace and joy in the Holy Grhost — your steady pro- 
gress in the divine life — your preparation for all that 
Heaven is and will be to a redeemed soul, and the 
condition of your final entrance into that glorious, 
eternal state — all the mighty interests of your being 
for immortality are to be won or lost in your victory 



THE TEMPLE'S LITERATURE. 17 

or defeat in that tremendous conflict by which every 
thought is to be brought into captivity unto the 
obedience of Christ. Let each soul pray : Cleanse 
thou me from secret faults. Create in me a clean 
heart, O ! God, and renew a right spirit within me. 

THE TEMPLE'S PRESS. 

Many have already entered the temple's dangerous 
library. To increase their number, the agents of 
Satan accost young men and maidens, and offer 
them literature that leads to destruction. Some 
Church members read books that stir the imagina- 
tion, irritate the passions, and disincline for 
active virtues and spiritual exercises. What ardent 
spirits do to the body, pernicious books do to the 
mind. Highly wrought novels poison desire at the 
fountain, pervert the taste, weaken the authority 
of reason, enfeeble the will, stifle the voice of con- 
science, divest villainy of its guilt, clothe odious 
vice in the garb of virtue, pollute the imagination, 
inflame the passions, and incite to sin. Reader, if 
you have taken from the hand of the goddess of sin- 
ful pleasure, the corrupting novel, you are in Tier 
library ! That book you now delight to read, may 
paint upon your mind what may never be erased ! 



18 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

It contains the literature that crowds the broad 
road to death ! Satan was its hidden author, and 
his publisher and agents guilt-purveyors. It was 
prepared to enkindle passions, for whose gratifica- 
tion other compartments in this temple have been 
provided. As its poison should be more dreaded 
than the plagues of Egypt, hurl it away with loath- 
ing as you would a deadly serpent! Among the 
patrons of the library, are some who have read pic- 
tures of romance, until their cheeks have grown 
pale ; the eyes of others, through mental conflict, 
are fiery and restless ; and from the once bright 
eyes of several, the light of intelligence has passed 
behind a cloud, and they are hopelessly insane. 

VITIATING PICTORIAL NEWSPAPERS. 

In an exhaustive report on the Social Evil, its 
causes, consequences and cure, made to the citizens 
of Syracuse, the esteemed Bishop of Central New 
York, in earnest words, fearlessly affirms that, 
"The last ten years have witnessed a rapid deteri- 
oration in cheap periodical literature. Not so 
marked, perhaps, in what is printed, as in the pic- 
torial illustrations. As to obscene books and 
prints, circulated surreptitiously, against the prohi- 



THE TEMPLE'S LITERATURE. 19 

bition of the law, all we can hope to do is, that offi- 
cial vigilance will be made thorough, and the pen- 
alties be enforced to their utmost severity. Some 
frightful discoveries have lately been made, of the 
circulation of these vilest of all the instruments of 
pollution, through post offices and systematic agen- 
cies, and even in public schools of both sexes not 
far from us, where, till a mere accident led to a 
strict search, the process of debauchment was not 
suspected. Another grade of vitiating publications, 
second only to the other in vileness, and probably 
diffusing contamination on a much wider scale, be- 
cause subject to no legal suppression, is that of pic- 
torial newspapers and magazines. This unclean 
traffic has been growing in boldness, till now there 
are shop windows in a great many of our streets, 
which are nothing else but broadsides of disgusting 
filth. The wonder is that they are tolerated by a 
community where puremindedness is of any esteem 
at all, and where our sons and daughters pass. 
The depraving effects of these exhibitions on the 
minds of young and older people that linger to look 
at them, are beyond all computation. The papers 
cost so little, that all classes, even the boot-black 
and the match-girl can buy them. They are car- 



20 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

ried about and made the means of active defile- 
ment everywhere. Their poison takes effect infalli- 
bly under the laws of an inflammable fancy and 
prurient curiosity. Thousands and thousands of 
American youth are touched with this pestilential 
infection ; really far worse than Asiatic cholera, or 
Yellow fever. Then a little further up in this low 
scale, and only a very little, is that large issue of 
cunningly constructed fictions, together with an ex- 
tensive portion of ordinary newspapers, which con- 
trive to pamper and gratify unclean tastes in the 
reader, either by broad and highly- colored recitals 
of lewdness in real life and in the criminal courts, 
or else by romantic stories of imaginary libertines, 
harlots and adulterers. Such volumes and jour- 
nals, everybody knows, find their way into the 
chambers and upon the centre-tables of families of 
fair repute ; and there they do their baneful work 
of familiarising the mind with forbidden things, 
and making the loss of purity easy." In the light 
of this truthful, touching, and solemn warning, if 
the reader has crossed the library' s dangerous thresh- 
old, escape for thy life ; for if you gratify "the lust 
of the eye" for this sin, God will bring thee into 
judgment. 



the temple's literature: 21 



A SHOET STAY IIS" THE LIBRARY DANGEROUS. 

Some time since, a young man entered and re- 
mained but fifteen minutes. During that short pe- 
riod, he glanced at a book, handed it back, and 
never saw it again. But the poison took effect, and 
sin left its mark. Listen now to his penitent con- 
fession : "I cannot erase the effects of the impious 
thoughts, which in that quarter of an hour, that vile 
book lodged in my heart, and which, may God for- 
give me, I harbored there. I can, and do pray 
against the sin, and for God' s grace yet to conquer 
it ; but it is a thorn in my flesh, and still causes me 
great bitterness and anguish. There is nothing 
which I would not willingly give to have the veil of 
oblivion cast over the scenes and sentiments of that 
corrupt volume ; which still haunt me like foul spec- 
tres during my hours of private devotion in the 
Sanctuary, and at the communion table." Through 
mercy, this young man escaped destruction ; 
but, alas ! many pass from the library of the 
temple of sinful pleasure into other compart- 
ments ; and when they die in sinful wretchedness, 
await the bitter pangs of the second death. 



CHAPTER III 



The Temple of Pleasure s Ball 

Room, 

^fflP^NE of the doors of the library leads to the 
Argyle Casino where rich profligates revel. 
The brilliant lights in front make midnight 
bright as noonday ; and the large light-re- 
flecting mirrors within make the place dazzle with 
brightness. A highly trained band of musicians is 
engaged, and at the bars the choicest wines are sold. 
Carriage after carriage arrives at the entrance, and 
attired in full evening dress, the occupants emerge 
and enter the dazzling hall. The majority of the 
women are young and beautiful, but are the guilty 
paramours of men of wealth or titled lords. Though 
this class do not in the Arygle Rooms dance, many 
pay the entrance fee to see their rich attire and beau- 
ty. The dancers here are principally dandy clerks 



THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE'S BALL ROOM. 23 

and pretty shop girls. From the projecting balconies 
within, the aristocratic sinners listen to the exciting 
strains of music and behold the mazy dance. But 
the women though so beautiful are strange women, 
who with their guilty companions are on their way 
to Hell ! If the reader asks, " How does the writer 
know that they were so attractive in person and 
appearance" he answers ; he was present at several 
midnight meetings, held for their special benefit in 
St. Peter's Church, adjacent to the Argyle Rooms. 
He saw them emerge from the Casino with graceful 
step, and soon crowd the Church. Girls of tender 
age, and«>some of the fairest daughters of England, 
beautiful in person, polished in manners, attired in 
costly fabrics, and decorated with sparkling dia- 
monds, and their guilty paramours in fashion- 
able evening dress costume, sat together in the 
Holy Sanctuary. After midnight they heard 
the glorious gospel, and a number were rescued and 
saved. The patrons of the Argyle branch of pleas- 
ure temple's ball-room, resembled in appearance and 
polished manners, the virtuous who patronise dress 
balls at fashionable places of summer resort. But 
there are less pretentious dance halls, with orches- 
tras ornamented with plaster of paris models of Ye- 



24 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

nus and Adonis, Diana and Apollo, whose in- 
mates we will not describe. 

DANCING DENOUNCED BY ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS. 

Cicero declared that dancing is the last of all 
vices. One must have delivered himself up to all 
other excesses before he can yield to this ; for no 
one dances, whether in private or convivial assem- 
blies, unless he be either intoxicated or a fool ! 
Demosthenes, to render the followers of Philip of 
Macedon odious, accused them of having danced! 
The voluptuous poet, Ovid, styled dancing-houses 
places of shipwreck for modesty, and the dance 
itself the seed of vice. Believing that dancing 
spoils the heart and wages war dangerous to 
modesty, Petrarch affirmed that, the dance is a 
frivolous spectacle, unworthy of man ; held in de- 
testation by chaste eyes, a prelude to the exercise 
of the passions ; the source of numberless infamies, 
from which nothing issues save irregularity a d 
impurity. But despite the warnings of philosophers 
many visit dance-halls, and mingle with women 
whose cheeks are red with paint, and their lips 
cracked and parched, and with men w x hose hearts 
are corrupt, and their character vile. Young people 



THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE'S BALL ROOE. 25 

are seeing life at dance-halls by having delicacy of 
feeling blunted, and their safety endangered 

DANCING DENOUNCED BY LEARNED DIVINES. 

St. Gaudentius commanded : Fly from feasts 

and dances accompanied by music. The houses in 

• 

which such disorders are found present all the dan- 
gers of the theatre. Let whatever relates to the 
pomps of the devil be banished from the houses of 
Christians. Alluding to the daughter of Herodius, 
St. Ambrose says : She dances, but is the daughter 
of an adulteress. Let mothers who love chastity 
and modesty, give their daughters lessons of reli- 
gion and not lessons of dancing. He calls the 
dance, the choir of iniquities, the ruin of innocence, 
and the grave of modesty. Tertullian pictures 
dancing-halls as the temples of Venus, and the 
sinks of impurity. St. Augustine was so impressed 
with the # great evils resulting from a passion for 
dancing, that he affirmed, "It is better to till the 
earth on Sundays than to dance." And St. Basil 
calls dancing-halls the high-schools of the impure 
passions. If the opinions of the ancients are to 
be disregarded because they lived so long ago, 
hear the warning voice of Meade, Bishop of 



26 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

Virginia: "As an amusement, seeing that it is 
a perversion of an ancient religions exercise, and 
has ever been discouraged by the sober-minded 
and pious of all nations, on account of its 
evil tendencies and accompaniments, we ought 
conscientiously to inquire whether its great liability 
to abuse, and its many acknowledged abuses, 
should not make us frown upon it in all its forms." 
The Bishop of Vermont declared that "Dancing 
is chargeable with the waste of time, the interrup- 
tion to useful study, the indulgence of personal 
vanity and display, and the premature incitement 
of the passions." The same note has been sounded 
by many others, but the warning has not been 
heeded. Let us now attend a discussion on 

Solomon's declaration, "there is a time to 

dance !" 

The disputants are Professor Polka, Master 
of Ceremonies in Pleasure's Temple, and the 
Rey. Pistos Faithful. Professor Polka opens 
the discussion, saying: "Ladies and Gentlemen — 
With profound pleasure I appear before this highly 
intelligent and fashionable audience. Though I do 
not believe the Bible as a whole, I accept most 



THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE'S BALL ROOM. 27 ~ 

heartily Solomon's declaration : " There is a time to 
dance;" and though I am a caterer of pleasure, I 
assure you, my candid auditors, that I am no hypo- 
crite. Dancing is an accomplishment, and when 
some church members have a party, that the young 
folks may dance and have a good time, at a certain 
hour the minister receives a hint to say good night. 
I am aware that a clergyman who recently thus 
said good night, hinted that he disapproved of 
such amusements. But the lady hinted that 
he would soon have to find another field of labor, 
for her husband was a leading member of the 
church, and one of the pillars. I mention this 
that the clergyman who is to reply to me may be 
guarded in his remarks, for some members of his 
church, to whom I give lessons, are present to-night. 
As I stated, I do not believe the whole of the Bible, 
but am familiar with the passages that justify my 
profession. Is my opponent not aware that when 
Miriam took a timbrel, all the women went after 
her with timbrels and dances ; and that, with tim- 
brels and dances, when Jepthah came to Mispeh, 
his daughters came to meet him \ [A voice : ' ' What 
is a timbrel?" Order; order.] Did I not address 
you as highly intelligent ? I was about to state 



28 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

that Benjamin' s children were commanded to wait 
in the vineyard to see if Shiloh's daughters danced ; 
when David brought up the Ark of the Lord he 
danced with all his might ; and when he had re- 
turned from the slaughter of the Philistines, women 
came from the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, 
to meet King Saul. Many of the ancients danced, 
and church members now delight in this Scriptural 
amusement. It is preposterous to suppose that 
there can be any harm in accompanying the meas- 
ured tones of music with graceful movements. Be- 
fore proceeding further, will my opponent gratify 
the audience by saying what he can in answer to 
my statement that dancing is scriptural, the ancient 
Israelites indulged therein, and that Solomon corn- 
minds this healthful exercise \ If he desires to be 
excused because it is difficult to come into direct 
conflict with Scripture, he may probably be grati- 
fied." But all seem anxious to hear 

THE REV. PISTOS FAITHFUL. 

Having politely bowed, he says : I was delighted 
to learn that the Gentleman who preceded me be- 
lieves even a portion of the Bible. But many be- 
lieve Gf-od' s promises who trample on His precepts ; 



THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE'S BALL ROOM. 29 

and many who disbelieve the threatenings practice 
what merits them. He used great emphasis in quoting 
Solomon's words respecting " a time to dance" and 
also emphasised the terms, dance, dances, and dan- 
cing in the examples that he cited, but as he set 
out to defend dancing by appealing to the sentence 
" a time to dance" if dancing is a religous duty, he 
should have told us when to dance, and where to 
dance, and under what circumstances, and the time 
to be devoted to this amusement ! It would not seem 
right to dance on the Lord' s Day, nor in the holy 
sanctuary, nor at a funeral, nor in the time of war, 
pestilence and famine. Moreover, he did not 
specify the kind of dancing, whether a walk or a 
jig, a quadrille or a hornpipe, or either of the 
other modes ; nor whether Christians when leav- 
ing the church, and organists play dance tunes, 
should dance in the aisles! Now, if Solomon 
commands dancing, young men and maidens, 
old men and children should obey the mandate, 
and dance in the proper place, with proper persons, 
at the proper time, and in a scriptural manner. My 
opponent did not seem aware that Solomon, the 
royal votary of pleasure, sets forth his cherished 
sentiments while running his giddy race, and his 



30 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

convictions when he resolved to stop. Because he 
has given his expectations at the outset, and his 
bitter disappointment at the close, atheists and 
lovers of pleasure have seized on certain sentences 
to justify their own conduct, and adopted as their 
life-motto passages that describe, but do not justify, 
their wayward course. Some of his perverted 
words were uttered as a check-rein to those about to 
run the race that leads to woe. The oft-repeated 
passage, " there is a time to dance," does not com- 
mand dancing, any more than the accompanying 
words, "a time to weep, and a time to laugh, and a 
time to mourn," command weeping, and laughing, 
and mourning. The passage simply affirms that at 
different times people are sorrowful or joyful, and 
express their joy. Professor Polka told you em- 
phatically that Solomon says, " there is a time to 
dance," but omitted to add that Solomon warns 
the votary of worldly pleasures, saying, "know 
thou that for all these things God will bring thee 
into judgment P ' 

ASTCIENT DAKGIXG WAS AIT ACT OF WORSHIP. 

This, Professor Polka did not state, but made 
the impression that dancing was an authorized act 



THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE'S BALL ROOM. 31 

of amusement, Miriam, , and the accompanying 
women, danced as an act of thanksgiving to God 
for a signal victory. The daughters of Jepthah 
danced to manifest gladness at the return of their 
father. The daughters of Shiloh danced as a reli- 
gious act at the festival of Shiloh. David danced 
with all his might when Israel brought up the ark 
of the Lord with shouting, and with sound of 
trumpet. The women who danced before King 
Saul, did so as part of a religious act celebrating 
victory. The dancing alluded to was not per- 
formed in suffocating ball-rooms, but in the open 
air, in highways, fields, or groves. It was not per- 
formed at midnight, when iniquity stalks abroad, 
nor by those who loved darkness rather than light ; 
but during the brilliant light of day, and only by 
virtuous maidens. Men who perverted dancing for 
mere amusement were deemed infamous, and devoid 
of shame, and called " vain fellows"* Because 
dancing expressed religious joy the Psalmist says, 
"Thou hast turned for me my mourning into danc- 
ing, f Because by joyful gestures Jehovah's name 
was lauded he commanded, "Let the children of 

* See Exo. xv, 20 ; Judges xi, 34 ; xxi, 21 ; 2 Sam. vi, 14, 15, 21 ; 1 Sam. xviii, 6. 
t Psa. xxx, 11. 



32 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

Zion praise His name in the dance."'" Because de- 
parted joys were to be by God restored, He promised 
that Israel should go forth in the dances of them that 
make merry. f But Professor Polka did not in- 
timate that as we live under the Christian dispen- 
sation 

THE RITUALISM OF JOY HAS CHANGED. 

With other Jewish ceremonies the ancient modes 
of expressing joy and sorrow have passed away. 
As the bereaved who now attire themselves in 
costly black fabrics, and who cannot be present at 
the funeral sermon until the garments have been 
made in the highest style of fashion, do not mourn 
in garments of coarse sackcloth as the ancients 
mourned, neither do men and women who dance 
together after dark, and for mere amusement, dance 
after the manner, nor for the holy purpose for which 
the maidens of Israel danced. The Saviour has not 
commanded dancing as any part of the Christian 
ceremonial ; and as the early Church fathers so 
severely denounced dancing, let none pretend that 
they now dance in obedience to an inspired man- 
date, nor as an act of worship — to God ! 



* Psa. cxlix, 3. t Jer. xxxi, 4. 



CHAPTER IV. 




Some Professed Christians Dance. 

ECAU SE church members dance the ungodly 
conclude that it is right to do so. At some 
fashionable balls the number of Christians 
who take part therein is really surprising. 
Some dance with persons of questionable character, 
and dance wearing a cross. Some wear at balls the 
identical cross they placed on the neck the night 
they were confirmed. This holy ornament should 
symbolize that the world is crucified to the wearer, 
and the wearer crucified to the world. It is the 
professed sign that the world's pomps and vanities 
have been renounced, and that the wearer has con- 
secrated herself to His service who on Calvary's 
cross was crucified. As a ball-room is in no sense 
sacred to G-od, and dancing is no longer an act of 
holy worship, church-members who persist in danc- 



34 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

ing, should place aside the visible sign of personal 
consecration. As it would be incongruous to see 
honest persons wearing prisoners' handcuffs for 
bracelets, so is it incongruous to see a Christian 
youth and a Christian maiden waltzing, the one 
with a cross dangling on his vest, and the other 
with a glittering cross sparkling on her neck ! 
Moreover, as dancing is confined principally to the 
feet, it cannot be classed with the intellectual ac- 
complishments. And though some affirm that 
dancing circulates the blood and improves the 
health, it often induces illness that hastens death. 

On ! through the maze of the fleet daixce, on ! 
But where are the young and the lovely gone ? 
Where are the brows with the red rose crowned, 
And the floating forms with the bright zone bound ? 
And the waving locks, and the flying feet, 
That still should be where the mirthful meet ? 
They are gone — they are fled— they are parted all ; 
Alas ! the forsaken hall ! 

The guests have left to repair to their homes, for 
it is now long past midnight. The dancing church 
members are too weary to read a portion of the 
Bible, and too much exhausted to kneel down and 
pray. They fall upon their beds and pass a few 
hours in unrefreshing sleep. But see them when 
they awake ! Behold them in the light of the sun ! 



SOME PROFESSED CHRISTIANS DANCE. 35 

Their ruddy cheeks have faded, and their over- 
excited spirits flag. Is that young man with glassy 
eyes and fevered lips, the blooming youth allured 
by pleasure's goddess into the dance-hall? Is that 
young woman with pallid features, and hectic flush, 
and palpitating heart, the one who has been dancing 
to improve her health ? 

IS IT WICKED TO DANCE IN THE PARLOR? 

The youthful mind craves and must have recre- 
ation. To see young folks act like old folks, is as 
ridiculous as to see old people assume the guise of 
youth. We delight to see the sprightly movements 
of the little ones, and hear their merry peals of 
laughter. It is the duty of parents to provide inno- 
cent amusement for their children, and make home 
so attractive that they may truly sing, " There is 
no place like home I" If dancing improves the 
health, let them dance where they can breathe 
pure air, and have virtuous companions. If dignity 
of carriage and gracefulness of movement is ac- 
quired through dancing, let children be taught to 
dance where virtue is not endangered. There can 
be no immediate harm in little children keeping step 
with the measures of sweet music, nor in older 



36 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASUKE. 

ones moving around with them merrily. But gradu- 
ally simple parlor-balls are relinquished as very 
insipid. One writer affirms that, "were the trial 
made of a series of dancing assemblies, conducted 
in all respects as becomes the sobriety and spiritual 
mindedness of the Christian character, so that it 
would be nothing inconsistent if every attendant 
were a devout and earnestly pious person, it would 
need no prophet to predict their entire failure. To 
be genial to the taste of those who would sustain 
them, they must be matters of worldly fashionable 
gaiety" Though dancing at home may not be 
in itself sinful, it may lead to future dissipa- 
tion. When heart-broken parents expostulate, they 
may hear the sad answer: "You once assured 
me that dancing is an accomplishment, and com- 
pelled me take to lessons. Gradually I became more 
and more fascinated with this exciting amusement. 
At a brilliant ball I became the prey of him whom 
I had captivated by the graceful movements I 
learned in our parlor. You reproach me for my 
folly, and weep over the harvest. But you com- 
pelled me to take the seed-lessons that produced it, 
and gladly paid the dancing-master's charges!" 
Alas ! many can testify that " dancing is a branch of 



SOME PROFESSED CHRISTIANS DANCE. 37 

that worldly education that leads from heaven to 
earth, from things spiritual to things sensual, and 
from God to Satan." That children may avoid 
temptations that lead to social sorrows, may parents 
consider well the mandate, 

Train up a child in the way in which he should go, 
And when he is old he will not depart from it. 

Plead with that darling son and daughter to seek 
celestial joy on earth. 

Come while the morning of thy life is glowing, 

Ere the dim phantoms thou art chasing, die — 

Ere this gay spell which earth is round thee throwing, 

Fades like the crimson from a sunset sky. 

Life is but shadows— save a promise given 

Which lights up sorrows with a fadeless ray ; 

Oh, touch Christ's sceptre— win a hope of heaven, 

Come, turn thy spirit from the world away I 



CHAPTER V 




The Saloon of Bacchus. 

ANY who listen to the syren voice of the 
goddess of pleasure, pass from the library 
of her temple, into the dance halls. When 
wearied by accompanying the exciting mu- 
sic by measured movement, they pass for refresh- 
ment into the saloon of the wine god. The place is 
attractive, and the light brilliant ; but here the rosy 
wine will add fuel to the flames of passion, enkin- 
dled in the ball room. To raise their "sinking spir- 
its to the heights of unknown ecstacy, they take the 
goblet filled with the wine that is red. Forgetful of 
all admonitions they drink, and crave for more, 
more, MORE ! What Bacchus calls nectar, mild, 
choice, and harmless, bewilders the brain, and 
makes objects seem double. At one of the bars in 
the lobby of the British House of Parliament, two 



THE SALOON OF BACCHUS. 39 

leading members have taken " a drop too much. 55 
As both are required to engage in important de- 
bate, one says, "I Caiinot see the speaker j" but 
the other promptly answers, "I can see two/" 
Yet neither was justified in making vision defective, 
Alas, intemperance weakens the intellect, inflames 
the emotions, makes powerless the will, pollutes 
the imagination, incites wild desires, stifles the 
voice of conscience, and incites to anarchy against 
God ! The drunkard' s eyes glare with an unmean- 
ing fixedness. When he attempts to talk his 
tongue seems palsied, his hands tremble, and his 
feet stumble. And while the thief may gain some- 
thing by stealing, and the gambler by gambling, 
the wretched drunkard has no equivalent, save the 
permission to personify an animal, and become a 
beast pro tern. Generally, intemperance clings to 
the poor drunkard like the fabled robe which Her- 
cules was allured to wear ; and which clung to him 
a raging and burning fire until he died in agony. 

INTEMPERANCE ENTHRONES HAGGARD WANT. 

Queen Cleopatra, at a feast in Tarsus, broke from 
her ear-ring a pearl of immense value, dissolved it in 
acid, mingled it with wine, and drank it in honor 






40 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

of a Roman General. But this waste is a poor il- 
lustration of the rich estates dissolved in the wine 
cup, and swallowed with what robbed the owners of 
reputation, wit, and virtue. Intemperance is in- 
creasing the number of bankrupts, and enthroning 
haggard want where plenty reigned. It is the 
source of domestic wretchedness, the wife's woe, 
the children' s sorrow ; and leads to temporal and 
everlasting ruin. The brilliant lights in the halls of 
Bacchus are the price of homes shadowed with 
gloom, and of heart-broken mothers, and fathers 
and children. The seeker of pleasure, through in- 
temperance, resembles a man who, with the ther- 
mometer above ninety, builds a large fire to keep 
himself warm. He is like unto one who, in winter, 
to add to his comfort, burns down his dwelling. 
Those who enter the Hall of Bacchus to " drive 
dull care away," and hiccup, " we wont go home 
till morning," instead of increasing destroy exist- 
ing j°y- He who sings " drink, drink and merry 
be," learns that the fiery liquid that raises the spir- 
its at night, burns them up before morning. He 
awakes a blear-eyed picture of wretchedness, with 
an aching head, trembling hands, and general inca- 
pacity. Solomon, who kept not from him what- 



THE SALOON OF BACCHUS. 41 

ever his eyes desired, and who withheld not his 
heart from any joy, sought in his heart to give him- 
self unto wine. But hear him : wine is a mocker, 
strong drink is raging ; and whosoever is deceived 
thereby is not wise. Lamb, in a paper on drinking, 
graphically depicts 

THE SORROWS OF THE DRUNKARD. 

The waters have gone over me ! But out of the 
black depth, could I be heard, I would cry out to 
all those who have but set a foot in its perilous 
flood. Could the youth, to whom the flavor of the 
first wine is delicious as the opening scenes of life, 
or the entering into some newly discovered paradise, 
look into my desolation, and be made to under- 
stand what a dreary thing it is when a man finds 
himself going down a precipice with open eyes and 
a passive will — to see his destruction and have no 
power to stop it, and feel it all the way emanating 
from himself ; to see all goodness emptied out of 
him, and yet not be able to forgot when it was 
otherwise ; to bear about the piteous spectacle of 
his own ruin ; could you see my fevered eye, fever- 
ishly looking forward for the night's repetition of 
the folly ; could he but feel the body of death out 



42 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE, 

of which I cry hourly, with feeble outcry to be 
delivered ; it were enough to make him dash the 
sparkling beverage to the earth, in all the pride of 
his mantling temptation. The foregoing is not an 
exaggerated picture of the drunkard's anguish. 

THE HORRORS OF DELIRIUM TREMENS. 

Some time since the writer saw a vigorous and 
handsome youth recovering from a fit, that exces- 
sive drinking had induced. A lantern in the dis- 
tance so terrified his imagination, that he writhed 
as if exposed to the fearful glare of a demon's eye. 
His struggles were so terrible that it required strong 
men to hold him, and his screams of terror sounded 
like the horrid yells of one lost forever. His office 
was one of x'esponsibility, and the compensation am- 
ple. But his visits to the Temple of Pleasure 
brought him indescribable harm, disqualified him 
for his duties, and he lost his situation and wan- 
dered a moral wreck. The drunkard's anguish is so 
terrible, that when Solomon escaped from the dan- 
gerous temple, he asked : 

Who hath woe? "Who hath sorrow? 

Who hath cententions? Who hath babbling? 

Who hath wounds without cause ? 



THE SALOON OF BACCHUS. 43 

Who hath redness of eyes ? 
They that tarry long at the wine. 
They that go about to seek mixed wine. 
Look not upon the wine when it is red ; 
When it giveth its color in the cup ; 
When it nioveth itself aright ; 

At last it BITETH LIKE A SERPENT, 
And STINGETH LIKE AN ADDER!* 

We rejoice that the Saviour's arm of mercy can 
reach the poor degraded drunkard, and hold him 
up, and cause him to stand. His blood, that 
cleanseth from all sin, washes away the pollution 
of intemperance. Though no drunkard can enter 
the Kingdom of Heaven, many who were intemper- 
ate have recently been rescued from this torturing 
demon. Clothed in Christ's righteousness, they 
shall reign for ever in His Kingdom, and ascribe 
the glory and the honor to God and The Lamb ! To 
avoid the horrors arising from drunkenness — 

Come ! while the morning of thy life is brightest, 

Thou youthful wanderer in a flowery maze : 
Come ! while thy restless heart is bounding lightest, 

And joys pure sunbeams tremble in thy ways ; 
Come ! while sweet thoughts, like Summer birds unfolding, 

Waken rich feelings in the careless breast — 
While yet thy hand the ephemeral wreath is holding — 

Come now ! and find in Christ unending rest. 



Proverbs xxiii., 29-32. 



CHAPTER VI. 




The Temple s Gambling Hell. 

XTERNALLY and internally this place is 
attractive. The carpets are rich, and the 
lounges luxurious. The pictures and statu- 
ary are costly and came from afar. The 
decorations fascinate, and the allurements dazzle. 
The brilliant chandeliers turn night into day. The 
extra glare makes the inmates more conspicuous, 
and though respectably attired they are all rogues 
or greenhorns. The professional gamblers have 
hard hearts, rigid features, and piercing eyes. Des- 
titute of human sympathy and of elevated moral 
sentiment, they only pity their verdant victims as 
tigers pity lambs. Their eyes are constantly on the 
spoils, and like fiend' s claws their fingers scrape into 
a heap their ill-gotten gains. See the perspiration 
of agony on the brow of that young merchant. He 



THE TEMPLE'S GAMBLING HELL. 45 

was allowed to win for a season, and was tlras al- 
lured to stake more and more ; but now lie has lost 
all that he possessed. Another victim turns from 
the fatal board with his mind almost frenzied, and 
frantically strikes his hand against his fevered fore- 
head. That rich man has just lost a large fortune ; 
and that excited clerk has lost in a quarter of an 
hour more than his salary for a quarter of a year. 
Yonder face indicates that flames of disappointment 
are sweeping through his soul like a raging prairie 
fire. With lips pale and quivering, another rushes 
away as if about to commit suicide. This is the 
gambling mill that grinds rich men into bankrupts, 
clerks into robbers, and some, who hold positions of 
trust, into forgers, embezzlers, and defaulters. 

THE CLIMAX OF SCOUNDRELISM. 

Sometimes rogue meets rogue, land villian meets 
villian, and inflict mutual sorrow. Three gamblers, 
who once secured a treasure, agreed to equally 
divide it. That they might have a little feast, one 
was sent to purchase the viands. After he had 
gone, the two who waited for him, resolved to mur- 
der him as soon as he returned, and divide his 
share of the ill-gotten gain between themselves. 



46 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

But the one who was absent resolved to destroy 
his two accomplices, and have their two shares all 
for himself, and hence poisoned the food. As 
soon as he arrived his fellow rogues killed him, 
and his murderers then ate what he had poi- 
soned. The ends of roguery were thus mutu- 
ally defeated, for one rogue was murdered, and the 
other two through the poison died. Gamblers who 
have but little regard for each other, have still 
less for the verdant victims who venture with- 
in their dens. Dr. Nott affirms that the finished 
gambler has no heart ; he would play at a brother' s 
funeral ; he would gamble upon his mother 5 s coffin ! 
Horace Walpole relates that as soon as a man was 
carried into White' s Club-house in London, in front 
of which he had dropped dead, members of the 
gambling club immediately made bets whether the 
man was really dead or not. When it was proposed 
to bleed him in hope of restoring consciousness, 
the wagerers objected, because it would affect the 
fairness of the bet. In continental gambling hells, 

SUICIDE IS A COMMON OCCURRENCE. 

Some, before the fat al act, write melancholy letters 
to their friends at home. To destroy all means of 



THE TEMPLE'S GAMBLING HELL. 47 

identification, others burn their letters and erase 
the names from their garments. Some shoot them- 
selves, and others plunge a dagger into their aching 
hearts. Some commit suicide by hanging, and 
others drown themselves. The victims of despair 
are found dead in bolted chambers, in still-pools of 
water, and in solitary places in the lonely forest. 
Who has ever seen the necrology of gambling 
hells, and read the names of those who have commit- 
ted suicide, and of those who have been slain therein. 
If you value your health, your spirits, your honor, 
your parents, your present life and future happi- 
ness, whether the gambling hell be mean or gorge- 
ous, on no account enter. It is sometimes the way 
to literal as well as to moral death. You may go in 
alive and strong, but in the dead hour of night 
be brought out a corpse, and hid from mortal sight. 
Shun it, for it is not only the road to commercial, 
and moral, and physical death, but often the sure 
way to death eternal. 



CHAPTER VII 




The Relentless Maelstrom. 

N the northern sea a gallant ship is sailing, 
and none on board anticipate danger. Sud- 
denly she halts, and resembles a ship be- 
calmed. By slow degrees she gives a gen- 
tle lurch, and now moves in a circle. The motion 
now quickens, and faster and faster the vessel 
whirls round and round. The affrighted helmsman 
throws up his hands in agony ! The seamen Gtand 
aghast ! The captain is in despair, for his ship is 
in a maelstrom! Not long since the passengers 
were ioyful, but are now in deep despair. They 
stand face to face with death, and wring their hand ; 
in anguish. The maelstrom seemed but a bubble 
when viewed from a distance. By degrees it ap- 
peared larger and larger. Now the waters boil and 



THE RELENTLESS MAELSTROM. 49 

foam, and whirl the vessel round faster and faster, 
and suck her deeper and deeper down till seen no 
more, and all on board are drowned. The young 
man who gambles is led on by slow and impercep- 
tible degrees, and gradually approaches the fatal 
spot of danger. Rocked to insensibility, he sails 
serenely to the maelstrom' s outer ripples. Now the 
angry waters roar ! Now he is in the whirlpool ! 
Now he is maddened to despair ! His brain, char- 
acter, money, 'and even life sink deeper and deeper 
in the angry waters. Those whose eyes lead them 
where cards are shuffled, and billiard balls are 
rolled, and dice-boxes rattled, and the roulette 
wheels revolved, sooner or later are swallowed in a 
maeistrom of rum. That you may escape this, pray 
with devout earnestness, "O, Lord, lead me not 
into temptation, but deliver me from evil." 

HOW TO ESCAPE DANGER. 

As your eternal destiny may be affected by your 
associates, seek the companionship of young men of 
good moral character. As a taste for gambling 
leads the gambler into complicated crimes, and ex- 
poses him to fearful dangers, avoid whatever may 
incite this taste, even card-playing at home. That 



50 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

yon may have no desire to enter Pleasure' s Temple, 
come to the Gospel Banquet-hall, and find soul 
refreshment, and glory begun below. Wait not 
till late in life to enter, but accept the invitation, 
" Come, for all things are now ready." During 
probation you may hear the prelude of the 
music of fruition, therefore refuse not the 
harp of religious joy until your fingers tremble 
with infirmity. Accept Christ as your personal Sa- 
viour, obey His matchless precepts, and you will 
have joy that leaves no sting behind. Enter now 
the Ark of safety, and find glory begun below, and 
at length land on the celestial shore, where 

Rivers of pleasure flow o'er the bright plains, 
And the sunshine of glory eternally reigns* 



CHAPTER VIII. 




The Theatre. 

l N the stage are scenic woods and groves 

vales and arbors, painted sunshine, and 
tinselled actors ; and from the orchestra 

ascends soft voluptuous music. The god- 
dess in front holds a flaming play -bill in one hand, 

and her magic wand in the other, and with soft be- 
witching voice allures the young to enter, to drown 

dull care, and in their days of youth be merry. 

Before you enter, read this interrogatory leaflet : 

THE PATROLS OF THE THEATRE. — QUESTIONS BY 
THE REV. THEOPHOLUS FEARGOD. 

" Why do swindlers love the play ? Why do gam- 
blers love the play ? Why do forgers love the play ? 
Why do embezzling cashiers and clerks love the 
play ? Why do the patrons of horse races love the 



52 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

play ? Why do bloated rumsellers Jove the play ? 
Why do vile scoffers love the play ? Why do bias 
pheming swearers love the play? Why do the 
prayerless love the play ? Why do methodist back- 
sliders love the play ? Why do church members 
who do not pay their pew rent, love the play? 
Why do libertines, and painted fallen ones, love the 
play? Reader, join not their company! A poet 
says : 

' ' Methinks as in a theatre I stand, 
Where vice and folly saunter hand in hand ; 
While virtue hov'ring o'er the unhallowed room, 
Seems a dim speck through sins surrounding gloom !" 

Now, Master Tempted, what do yon think 
of the interrogatory leaflet ? Can yon answer the 
categorical questions ? Well, Me. Preventwoe, 
I think the writer should be called Mr. Plaik- 
speaker. But if he is pastor of a fashionable city 
Church, and should thus interrogate his hearers, 
some would threaten "I will give up my pew !" and 
church pillars would soon notify him that "an im- 
mediate change of pulpit gift will benefit this 
ZionT 

Never mind, Master Tempted, the position 
nor the risk of the writer, but answer, why do the 
characters mentioned patronise theatres ? 



THE THEATRE. 53 

I suppose, Mr. Preventwoe, that they go to see 
"the mirror held up to nature." You will not de- 
ny that some plays are pure, and some actors 
moral, and some audiences respectable, and that 
some go to the theatre for mere curiosity, or to 
while away the time. 

I will admit, Master Tempted, that what you 
suppose may be, in many cases, true ; but, answer 
definitely, why do the majority of theatre patrons 
belong to the characters the leaflet specifies ? 

Well, Mr. Preventwoe, to answer candidly, I 
presume because what is exhibited on the stage must 
accord with the beholders prevailing tastes ; for the 
daughter of Deacon Merrybe says that, at comic 
representations of vice, and caricatures of Chris- 
tians, and imitations of crime, the auditors applaud- 
ed heartily. 

Thank you, Master Tempted, you have given 
a definite answer ; and as Miss Merrybe often 
accompanies thither, Mr. Verdant Dandy, she 
ought to know. What the spectators behold must 
give them pleasure, for actors take pains to imitate 
what will incite applause, and increase their own 
fame. I recently read in substance, that, guilt 
which in hell will cause eternal agony, when repre- 



54 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

sented in the theatre, incited roars of laughter. 
Now, if actors, instead of making virtue repelling 
and vice alluring, would make virtue attractive and 
vice odious, theatres would not be patronised 
specially by the inmates of places of vile resort. 

You have a right to your opinion, Mr. Prevent- 
woe, but should theatres be condemned without 
discrimination? I have somewhere read that, an- 
ciently moral and religious instruction was impart- 
ed through the theatre, and that plays depicted 
what was pure and ennobling. If you read some of 
the plays of the older dramatists, I think you will 
be convinced that they sought to make vice repul- 
sive and virtue attractive; 

I will convince you, Mr. Tempted, that this 
is the exception at the present time. Disgusting 
hand-bills, posters, and advertisements, prove that 
the modern theatre has not only declined, but 
reached a depth of degradation unparalleled. The 
manager of the Drury Lane Theatre, London, re- 
solved to sustain it by playing the legitimate 
drama. Because this did not draw, and he lost so 
much money through empty boxes, during six long 
years, he concluded that he must cater to the de- 
praved public taste or close his house. He resolved 



THE THEATRE. 55 

to do the former, and incited public attention by 
sensational notices. Within a short period, persons 
considered respectable, intellectual and fashionable, 
came to witness an abominable performance, min^ 
gled with characters low and debased, and his long- 
deserted house was nightly crowded. 

Well, Mr. Prevejsttwoe, facts are stubborn 
things, and the testimony of the manager of a thea- 
tre so prominent, should have great weight. But I 
desire to visit some theatres to judge for myself. 
Some time since, when a son wished to see a certain 
play, his father objected, saying : " I have seen the 
folly of visiting theatres." The son replied : " By 
personally going, I want to see the folly of it too. v 
I sympathise with the son, and wish to go, there- 
fore no longer attempt to hinder me. 

Not long since, Mr. Tempted, you were pub- 
licly received as a member of Christ' s flock. 
If you pay for a box-seat in a theatre, you may 
find yourself near a gambler or a fallen woman. 
If you take a seat in the gallery, you may mingle 
with swindlers, villains and profligates. Do you think 
it desirable to mingle with the vile in order to wit- 
ness representations of crime that should make a 
true Christian shudder ?" 



56 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

I know, Mr. Prevextwoe, that I am a mem- 
ber of a Christian church, and feel the force of 
what you have said. But young Christians 
need recreation, and are not required to hear 
Psalm- tune music only, and to listen to nothing but 
firstly, secondly, thirdly, lastly, finally, and a few 
"practical words in conclusion — though a critic re- 
cently said : Why the few closing words of a ser- 
mon should be the only practical part, he could 
not understand. 

Do you think, Master Tempted, that wit- 
nessing representations of jealousies, suicides, 
murders and other works of the devil, will give 
you recreation ? Though at some theatres painting 
and poetry, music and eloquence are displayed, 
and a few performers, and some spectators have re- 
tained their purity, the evils are so numerous, and 
the risks so great, that if you go you may see the 
folly of it for yourself with sorrow. 

But you know, Mr. Preveisttwoe, that Christ- 
ians do patronize theatres, and consider this no 
harm. A third-cousin of the daughter-in-law of 
Mr. Telltale's half-brother's son, told my sister's 
lady-friend's brother, that a certain church member 
came to the city from the country to transact busi- 



THE THEATRE. 57 

ness, and was seen to enter a theatre ; but for the sake 
of peace, pray do not repeat this. Though he turned 
up his coat collar to hide part of his face, a church 
member saw him, and expressed surprise that he, 
one of Zion' s pillars, should enter a theatre. Now, 
if one church member visits the theatre, why should 
not another ? 

Suppose, Master Tempted, that the stage- 
manager had recognized one of the church 
members alluded to, and had ironically said : 
Brother Cheetum:, will you please open the per- 
formance by offering a few words of solemn prayer 
for God' s blesoing on virtue ridiculed and vice per- 
sonified! One of the ancient Church Fathers, 
who believed that the theatre is not a place sacred 
to Grod, and that Christians should not visit it, en- 
forced his view by fable. He represented that in 
a certain city, Satan observed a Christian at a thea- 
tre, and at once seized him. As he was about to 
depart with him, some one cried with loud voice, 
" That man is a Christian /'' But Satan answer- 
ed : "The territory of all theatres is mine, and 
whoever I find thereon I claim." 

Well, Mr. Preventwoe, if a true Christian 
may not visit the Library of the Temple of Pleasure, 



58 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

nor visit the Dance-hall, nor the Hall of Bacchus, 
nor the Gambling Saloon, nor the Theatre, in what 
way may a young man enjoy himself % Last Sun- 
day my minister expounded his text, and said : 
" Commentators do not agree with me." Now I do 
not wish to wear an expression of countenance that 
will virtually say, * ' Religion does not agree with 
me." 

My dear Master Tempted, a Christian is not 
required to abstain from innocent pleasures, 
nor to caricature Christianity by doleful looks. 
A professed Christian who looks as if he had seven 
children and no food for them, if not physically in- 
disposed, must have forgotten that the possession 
of true religion fills the soul with gladness. The 
Christian may be cheerful as the merry birds of 
Spring. He need not say, "I hope I have a hope," 
but "I know in whom I have believed," and go on 
his way rejoicing. If true religion brought gloom 
and sadness, the Psalmist would not have prayed, 
" O, satisfy us early with Thy mercy, that we may 
rejoice and be glad all our days." A Christian who 
is always gloomy, must have misread the passage 
" Rejoice ever more ! " 

Pray, stop, Mr. Preventwoe, and do noi; 
preach a sermon. I am inclined to believe that 



THE THEATRE. 



59 



One moment, Master Tempted. I was about 
to add that, some who incite artificial joy in 
others, are the victims of hypochondria. Some 
time since an eminent actor visited a new physician, 
to obtain relief if possible. Perceiving the danger 
of his malady, as a last resort to arouse his spirits, 
the physician advised him to visit a certain theatre, 
and hear the renowned actor who causes uncontrol- 
able laughter. But the man replies, ' ' I am myself 
that actor." 

Excuse me, Mr. Preveisttw^oe. I have heard that 
story before, also, that for two thousand years the 
theatre has been a corrupter of the public morals in 
Greece, Rome, France, England and other countries. 
I, therefore, only desire to visit the theatre occasion- 
ally, and am prepared to look with cautious eyes 
and to hear with guarded ears. 

You excuse me, Master Tempted, but when 
an incident is mentioned for instruction or enter- 
tainment, it is not polite, and is in bad taste to say 
1 ' I heard that story before. ' ' Whoever pretends to 
utter what in some manner was never before uttered 

must be an original f . I will not complete the 

sentence! You desire to visit the theatre only 
occasionally. I will therefore mention another inci- 



60 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

dent, and if you have heard this one before, pray 
manifest politeness. One of the hearers of the Rev. 
Rowland Hill, having been called u a worldly- 
minded man," was much annoyed, and said to his 
minister, " I very seldom attend theatres ; just now 
and then, once in a fortnight, and not as a reg- 
ular habit, but as a very great treat, I do allow my- 
self to take a ticket." To show that his own words 
condemn him, and that his heart is, worldly, Me. 
Hill says, " Suppose a person were to say to 
me, Mr. Hill / hear you are a very dirty man. 
They say that you live on carrion ! and I 
should affirm, why, dear sir, I have been cruelly 
maligned ; I eat carrion, indeed ! No sir, I have as 
good roast and boiled meats at my table as you have 
at yours ; it is true that now and then, not as a 
fixed habit, Sir, oh, no, but just once in a fortnight, 
or so, I do indulge myself in one delicious dinner of 
carrion ! 

It is evident, Mr. Prevektwoe that Row- 
land Hill used great plainness of speech ; and 
must have embarrassed his hearer who objected 
to be called " worldly-minded. " Now, if you 
will not say, " I heard that before," I will relate an 
incident : a lady who delighted to attend the theatre 



THE THEATRE. 61 

once rode in a mail coach with the Rev. Mr. Her- 
vey. and expatiated on the pleasures derived at 
theatres. To his question, "Pray, madam, what 
are those pleasures?" the lady answered, "They 
are three, sir, — pleasure before the play, in antici- 
pation ; pleasure during the play, in its enjoyment ; 
and pleasure after the play in retracing it ! " 

The incident, Mr. Playtempted, is one of practi- 
cal interest, and I thank ,you for its recital. You 
doubtless remember Hervey' s calm reply : ' ' Madam, 
you have omitted one more pleasure yet to be 
realized." To the lady's question, "What is that ? " 
Mr. Hervey solemnly answers : " The pleasure which 
the retrospect of the time so spent, and the things 
so seen will afford you when laid on a death bed !" 
Because the pleasures imitated and incited in the 
theatre do not afford satisfactory happiness to the 
performers, and death will grasp those who often 
feign death, a distinguished actor in a N"ew York 
theatre, moved by the spiritual condition of him- 
self and fellow actors, and the manner in which 
they are practically abandoned by the clergy, has 
written a touching letter to the earnest Rector of 
the Church of the Holy Trinity, inquiring, whether, 
in his efforts to benefit different classes of the 



62 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE, 

people, he cannot inaugurate a movement for the 
spiritual welfare of church-neglected actors. 

The actor doubtless believes that, " Like the air, 
the Church should press equally on all the surfaces 
of society ; like the sea, flow into every nook and 
corner of humanity, and, like the sun, shine on all 
foul and low as well as fair and high." 

The conversation was protracted until it was too 
late for Master Tempted to reach the theatre in 
season. He promised to meet Mr. Preventwoe, 
at 8 o'clock to-morrow evening at Association Hall, 
to hear addresses on the question : " Is it right for 
Christians to visit theatres?" and they shook 
hands and parted. 



CHAPTER IX 




Should Christians Visit Theatres. 

HE announcement, "A public meeting will 
be held this evening, in Association Hall, to 
consider the above question," has drawn a 
large audience. On the platform are emi- 
nent professors, distinguished divines, and promi- 
nent citizens. The Chairman, Hon. T. B. Plotttos, 
having bowed gracefully, says: " Ladies and Gen- 
tlemen — We have assembled to consider the oft- 
repeated question, ' Should Christians visit thea- 
tres f You are aware that a difference of opinion 
exists on this controverted subject. On some occa- 
sions disputants have manifested feelings of bitter- 
ness, and used language in no sense poetical. The 
distinguished gentlemen who are to speak to-night 
will, I trust, avoid harsh language and uncharitable 
judgment. But, as St. Matthew would not have 



64 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

personified Kixg Herod, nor St. Mark, Judas Is- 
cariot, nor St. Luke the High Priest- Caiaphas, 
nor St. Joh^ Pontius Pilate, nor St. Paul and 
St. Peter, the men who crucified the Saviour, nor 
either of the Apostles, the Devil — by whom Christ's 
foes were moved ; and the early Christians would 
have shunned such a repelling exhibition, it is 
questionable whether Christians now should be 
either stage-actors or spectators. But as you will 
not expect the chairman to discuss the question, 
that you may hear one who has examined the sub- 
ject thoroughly, I have great pleasure in introdu- 
cing Professor Aistetazo, who fills the Chair of 
Ancient and Modern History in Upsistos Univer- 
sity." 

The Professor sets forth the origin, design and 
moral results of the theatre, and shows that, eminent 
men of ancient times denounced it as a department 
of Pleasure's Temple, through which multitudes 
have rushed to ruin. He quotes Plato, who said : 
" Plays raise the passions and pervert the use of 
them, and therefore are dangerous to morality ;"— 
also Plutarch, who declared that, "The Greeks 
grew so insanely fond of the theatre, that it cor- 
rupted them into indolence, luxury and effeminacy, 



SHOULD CHRISTIANS VISIT THEATRES. 65 

until they were prepared to bow to Philip's yoke ;" 
— also Spartan, who, instead of viewing theatres as 
intellectually ennobling, said: u Surely a people 
must be void of sense to devote themselves in so 
earnest a manner to things so frivolous /" The 
Professor also quotes Tertulliak's warning to re- 
cently converted heathens : " No one goes over to 
the enemy' s camp, unless he has thrown away his 
own arms, and deserted the standard and oaths of 
his chief. Will a Christian learn modesty who is 
staring at buffoons ? While the tragedian is vocif- 
erating, will he meditate on the exclamations of a 
Prophet? During the melodies of an effeminate 
player, will he be meditating on a Psalm ? What 
has light to do with darkness? life with death?" 
An eminent New York D. D. recently warned the 
Professor not to anathematize theatres, because he 
had recently visited one himself ; but, instead, de- 
nounce the covetousness of church members, which 
is idolatry ; and also the works of the flesh, speci- 
fied by St. Paul, viz. : adultery, fornication, un- 
cleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, ha- 
tred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, 
heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revel- 
lings and such like.* But because the evils enume- 



Gal. v, 19-21. 



66 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

rated are at some theatres elevated into the rank of 
splendid virtues, Professor Anetazo quotes Wes- 
ley's words: "the theatre is the sink of all pro- 
f aneness and debauchery;" also Macauley's con- 
firmation, " It is a seminary of vice;" and Alli 
son's declaration, that " This corruption of the 
theatre may be. considered inevitable." Having ex_ 
pressed his own opinion, he closes, saying, "Let 
those who desire to be infected with each particular 
vice in the catalogue of depravity, go to the thea- 
tre." 

A HEATHEN ON THE PLATFORM ! 

The Chairman. — Seated near me is an eminent 
idolater, from Bombay, India. Though a worship- 
per of idols, he is highly educated, and eminently 
practical. In order to make just comparisons be- 
tween Heathenism and Christianity, he spent some 
time in England. During his visit he familiarised 
himself with matters pertaining to both Church and 
State, and made the acquaintance of many Chris- 
tians of good social standing. Occasionally he re- 
ceived invitations to attend prominent churches, to 
hear distinguished ministers ; but the invitations to 
attend balls and concerts, and theatres and operas, 



SHOULD CHRISTIANS VISIT THEATRES. 67 

were much more numerous. Through a pressing 
invitation he came to America, but intends to leave 
for Bombay shortly. Being deeply interested in 
the question under consideration, he has consented 
to deliver a short address, embodying his impres- 
sions of British Christianity. I have, therefore, the 
great pleasure of introducing Professor Kritikos 
Dokimazo, of the Idol Divinity Department of the 
Hindoo University. 

Professor Dokimazo expresses his great gratifi- 
cation that he is present at this meeting. As the 
doctrines and standards of the Anglican Church 
have been adopted by the Episcopal Church of the 
United States, he fears that some of his remarks 
may be viewed as too personal. But should he speak 
of the life and inconsistent walk of Christians in gen- 
eral, he can benefit no one in particular. That his 
statements may not be handed over from denomina- 
tion to denomination, and neither plead guilty, he 
prefers to refer specially to members of the Church 
of England, whose doctrines are by law established, 
and to those who have elsewhere adopted them ; for 
in order to benefit anybody he must mean some- 
body. He concludes that^ as the Gospels nowhere 
sanction the treachery of Judas, nor the Epistles 



68 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

the conduct of those who disgraced the early 
Church, those who claim to have descended from 
the Apostles in unbroken succession, cannot sanc- 
tion what their ancestors denounced. 

A voice. — Mr. President, is not the gentleman 
out of order ? Did we not convene to consider the 
simple question, Should Christians visit theatres ? 
Professor Dokimazo has only mentioned the term 
" Theatre" once, and already has introduced Suc- 
cession!" 

The Chairman. — "Order ! Order ! I can permit 
no interruption ! We must allow a little latitude 
to a learned Hindoo. The Professor will please 
proceed, and I most earnestly beg that there may 
be no further interruption /" 

The Professor expresses surprise that he should 
be thus interrupted by a gentleman whom he recog- 
nises as one who receives the Holy Communion, and 
who occupied a seat near me in a box at the the- 
atre. He thinks it will be in harmony with the 
question announced, should he set forth the con- 
trast between the requirements of the standards of 
the Church of England^ and the life of many of her 
members. The Mormons consider themselves 
Christians, and should he not confine his remarks 



SHOULD CHRISTIANS VISIT THEATRES. 69 

to the people with whom he mingled, some may im- 
agine that they have reference to the people who 
recently lost their Chief. When the gentleman in- 
terrupted him, he was about to state that Christians 
affirm that Jehovah is the true and living God, and 
that his moral glories were revealed by His Son. 
Before he can renounce heathenism, he must see 
Christ's moral mark on those who claim to be His 
followers. But instead of doing what God com- 
mands, and leaving undone what He prohibits 
many truly confess, "We have left undone those 
things which we ought to have done, and have done 
those things which we ought not to have done ;" but 
who start early on Monday to act as before ! 
Christ told His followers, "ye cannot serve God 
and Mammon ;' ' but many seem resolved to try the 
experiment. He believes that if Christianity is a 
true religion, Christians in all ages and in all pla- 
ces should be distinguished from the world by their 
likeness to the Saviour. The Christians with whom 
he associated, talked of the glories of heaven, but 
seemed wholly absorbed in the pleasures of earth ! 
Some affirmed that there is a Hell ; and others that 
Hell is only an oriental figure. But those who said 
there really is a Hell, calmly sinned despite its 



70 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

threatening terrors. He has learned from the New 
Testament, and Ecclesiastical History, that the fol- 
lowers of Christ were despised and persecuted ; but 
Church members now claim that, it is commendable 
to avoid peculiarities, and gain the world's ap- 
plause. He expressed himself interested in "the 
principles of Christ's moral philosophy;" but as so 
many Christians are not a peculiar people zealous 
of good works, he had concluded to " continue a 
heathen!" 

A voice. — Will the Professor have the kindness 
to give us his views of 

OUR BEAUTIFUL PRAYER-BOOK % 

Prof. Dokimazo states that, before leaving 
London he published a book entitled The Religion 
of the Metropolis of Christendom. What he has 
said is, in substance, contained in this volume. In 
order to save time he will comply with the gentle- 
man' s request, by reading a short extract : " I do 
know that your Prayer-Book, from beginning to 
end, breathes the spirit of such a true devotion, 
places the suppliant in a position so touchingly 
helpless before God, so abject in this dependence 
upon the grace he seeks through Christ, so deeply 



SHOULD CHRISTIANS VISIT THEATRES. 71 

contrite for the sins wherewith he has grieved the 
Holy Spirit, that /, a wicked unbeliever, can 
scarcely hear it read without being moved to 
tears. 1 ' Because the intelligent, moral and respect- 
able Christians, with whom he spent much time, 
were misinterpreting commentaries on their much- 
admired Liturgy, as he would exhort idolators 
who in words follow their ritual, but in their daily 
conduct defy their idol-god' s wishes, so he would 
exhort Christians, who at theatres applaud so 
loudly week-days, and in church genuflect on Sun- 
days : " Don't repeat petitions which simply have 
no sense, except in the mouth of one who is copy- 
ing Christ in every word and deed ; and then turn 
out into the world and lead a life a trifle better, or 
a trifle worse, than that of a civilized, but un- 
converted heathen, or an intelligent Hindoo. If 
your Prayer Book lessons of holiness are too strict 
for you, have the candor to confess it, and own that 
your Psalms are out of date, and that your Collects 
were written in days when men regarded Christ's 
example in a different light from which civilization 
and common-sense have since revealed to you. If 
Christ is a real person, and were now on earth, I 
know from the New Testament how He would be 



72 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

treated. Viewing Him as the hinderer of her joys, 
the fine lady, with a look of scorn, would pick her 
way past Him ; but the poor would gladly crowd 
around Him as their sympathizing friend. Could I 
see Christ's ministers defying public opinion, and 
raising high His standard, hear them, with untrem- 
ulous tone, re-echoing his precepts, and see Christ- 
ians, rather than walk hand -in-hand with the vota- 
ries of pleasure, calmly bearing ridicule and scorn, 
their Christ-like life would be to me a more 
convincing evidence of the truth of Christianity, 
than the affirmed miraculous feeding of five thou- 
sand in the wilderness, or the raising of Lazarus 
from the dead." 

A voice : The Professor has taken advantage of 
this occasion to advertise his book, and increase its 
circulation. 

The Professor answers : ' ' The gentleman is sure- 
ly mistaken, for I mentioned it under a fictitious 
title, and also withheld the names of the publish- 
ers,"— and now takes his seat. 

The Chairman : You have had the pleasure of 
listening to an able Professor of Ancient and mod- 
ern History, one conversant with the views of dis- 
tinguished men in the past and at the present 



SHOULD CHRISTIANS VISIT THEATRES. 73 

time. You have also heard the learned Professor 
of Idol Divinities, who has been studying practical 
Christianity in the nineteenth century. I now have 
the pleasure of introducing a successor of the Apos- 
tles, with his additional titles : 

The Eight Reverend 
noutheteo tharlos fearless, 
Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, 
Doctor of Scientific Theology, Doctor of Laws, 
Doctor of Civil Laws, and Doctor in Divinity. 
The Bishop, with smiling face and pleasant tone, 
says : "I have received all the titles mentioned, but 
as they came in rapid succession, I was not the least 
afraid. If I exercised my episcopal functions in 
England, I would be ' Lord Bishop ' in addition, 
and have a seat in Parliament with the Peers of the 
realm. After the facetious and pleasant manner 
in which the Chairman introduced me, to tune my 
audience, I will mention an incident that made even 
a bishop smile. A lady, who expected a Lord 
Bishop to dinner, instructed the servants to observe 
the rules of etiquette, and told each to address him 
as ' My Lord,' and to speak of him as ( His Lord- 
ship^ All did their best to carry out instructions ; 



74 THE TEMPLE OE PLEASURE. 

but when one passed part of the dessert, his lordship 
declined to take it ; and the waiter returned it to 
the lady, saying, ' The Lord will not take any pud- 
ding P " 

With a look of dignity, Bishop Fearless now 
alludes to the great pleasure and extreme pain with 
which he listened to Proeessor Kriticos Dokima- 
zo. He was pleased that he appreciated so highly 
the standard of morality enjoined by the Saviour, 
but pained by his statements respecting the Chris- 
tians to whom he alluded. He most sincerely 
hopes that the Professor will make a distinction be- 
tween the holy standards of the Church, and the in- 
consistent conduct of some of her members. There 
was a Jitdas among the twelve, but all were not 
betrayers. Now r , as in Christ's days, there are tares 
with the wheat, but all Christians are not tares. 
As the belief is spreading that " eminent piety in 
the Church is no hindrance to profound rascality in 
the mart of commerce;'' and the impression pre- 
vails that, " members of the Episcopal Church have 
the privilege of indulging in worldly pleasures," the 
public must be informed that all who hold our 
Prayer- Book and join in the services, are not church 
members ; for on Communion Sundays three-fourths 



SHOULD CHRISTIANS VISIT THEATRES. 75 

of most congregations leave. If church-communi- 
cants claim that they may indalge in all the pleas- 
ures in which the children of Satan indulge, they 
should be asked to name ' ' the pomps and vanities 
of this wicked world," which, by wearing the cross 
and receiving the Holy Communion, they profess to 
have "renounced" The Bishop now propounds, 

A FEW QUESTIONS FOR EPISCOPALIANS. 

As the stage sows the seed of corruption, and de- 
generacy is the law of its being, and the theatre is 
the sepulchre of virtue, and stenchf ul with putrefac- 
tion, and is in no way connected with the narrow 
path that leads to life, ichy should Christians visit 
the theatre ? As the stage has always proved itself 
a school of immorality, and all efforts to purify it 
have hopelessly failed, and holiness is not increased 
by familiarity with scenes of vice, why should 
Christians visit the theatre? As the theatre is a 
place of present evil, and leads to future woe, and 
Macready, the star actor of England declared: 
"None of my children with my consent, under any 
pretense, shall enter the theatre, nor associate with 
play-actors or actresses," why should Christians 
visit the theatre? As the Rev. John Hall, D.D., 



76 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

warns Presbyterians that, "Whatever its abstract 
powers might be, the theatre is, in point of fact, 
mischievous on the whole. * * * Pure plays 
cannnot get players or spectators. * * * I never 
go, never advise any one to go, and am very sorry 
when I hear of Christians going;" — why should 
members of the Church visit the theatre? As 
Christians w^ould be surprised to see actors steadily 
attending the service of the Church, do not actors 
justly express surprise that so many Christians 
patronise the theatre % The Bishop now declares 
that, 

THE THEATRE IS NOT ONE OF THE MEANS OF GRACE. 

Though the goddess of pleasure induced a Doctor 
in Divinity to preach a sermon on the advantages of 
attending theatres, and gloss the snares laid for the 
feet of youthful innocence, a weeping mother sobs, 
6 ' my child ! my child ! He is just committed to 
prison ! 0, that theatre ! He was a kind and vir- 
tuous youth until the theatre proved his ruin !" A 
father, with aching heart, exclaims in tones of an- 
guish, "My two sons were both hopelessly ruined 
through witnessing indecent plays at the * * * The- 
atre !" A youth upon his death bed says, "In an 



SHOULD CHRISTIANS VISIT THEATRES. 77 

evil hour I accepted an invitation to attend the thea- 
tre. From that hour I trace my wanderings and 
my ruin." The theatre has allured vast multitudes 
into the paths of vice, and filled their hearts with 
lamentation, mourning, and woe. Though some 
Episcopalians visit theatres, it slanders the Church 
to affirm that their conduct is sanctioned by her. 
She does not teach that persons may devote their 
life to the service of the devil, and all the time be 
safe for glory. Only those are safe who renounce 
the world' s pomps and vanities, and fight manfully 
against sin, the world and the devil, until their 
life' s end. Long since the House of Bishops raised 
a warning voice to the clergy, and urged the clergy 
to warn their people of the danger, of indulging in 
whatever may tend to withdraw their affection from 
things above. Communicants should not be misin- 
terpreting commentaries of our Prayer-Book, but 
Christ' s living epistles. They should daily soar the 
mount of holiness, praying, " Vouchsafe, O Lord, to 
keep us this day without sin" The Church has 
made no liturgical provision for the gratification of 
the tastes of the spiritually dead. Theatrical per- 
formances represent life in 'false colors, make fic- 
tion fascinating and realities wearisome ; distort re- 



78 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASUEE. 

ligion and caricature morality ; ridicule female pur- 
ity and youthful simplicity ; teach spectators to 
laugh at sin, and change the habits of both thought 
and action ; lower the standard of virtue, make 
vice attractive, and kindle the flames of passion. 
Therefore In the name of the Father ', and of tht 
Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and in behalf of the 
Church, I fearlessly proclaim that, from the licen- 
tious tendency of plays, and their strong temptations 
to vice, Christians should not visit theatPvES. 

A Voice : " It is fortunate that you are not Bishop 
of the Diocese where I reside, and that your salary 
was secured by endowment before you were conse- 
crated!" 



CHAPTER X. 




The House of Death. 

HEN Mammon' s temples are closed the gates 
of the House of Death are opened. While 
merchants repose in their princely abodes, 
and honest mechanics sleep in their humble 
homes, Licentiousness begins her fearful revel. 
The air vibrates with the profanity of "fast young 
men," and the wi'd laugh of women who glory in 
their shame. Iniquity now stalks abroad without 
a blush, and the midnight scenes repel and the 
sounds appal. In the Temple of Sinful Pleasure 
are alluring avenues from one compartment into 
another. The patron of the debasing library can 
pass therefrom into the Dance-hall, and from the 
Dance-hall into the Saloon of Bacchus. From the 
Saloon of Bacchus he can easily reach the Gambling 
Hell, and pass from thence to the Theatre. With- 



80 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

out difficulty he can pass from the Theatre to the ad- 
jacent House of Death. Those who have been there 
may be nervous that the place is to be even men- 
tioned ; but generally prudery is impurity in a 
cloak ; and " Ill-deemers are commonly ill-doers" 
All should shun what they blush to hear alluded to. 
The enchantress of the House of Death waves her 
magic wand, and presents before the vision of inno- 
cent youth a fairy castle, and bids him enter, say- 
ing: 

" Here dwell no frowns, nor anger ; from these gates 
Sorrow lies afar ; see, here be all the pleasures 
That fancy can beget on youthful thoughts, 
When the fresh blood grows lively, and returns 
Brisk as the April buds in primrose season, 
And first beholds this cordial julep here 
That flames and dances in his crystal bounds/' 

Several young men are near, and half inclined to 
enter; but one, who has been truly regenerated, 
and whose affection is set on things above^ repels 
the seducer, saying : 

" Were it a draught of Juno, where she banquets 
I would not taste thy treason's offer ; none 
But such as are good can give me good things, 
And that which is not good is not delicious 
To a well-governed and wise appetite." 



THE HOUSE OF DEATH. 81 

According to an ancient fable, there resided on 
the coast of Sicily 

THREE SISTER SYRENS. 

By the enchantment of their singing, they allured 
to the shore any voyager who sailed within sound 
of their voices. But no sooner was he in their 
power than they cruelly destroyed him. Their 
singing seemed celestial, but their embrace was in- 
fernal. The sun-bleached bones of their victims 
could be seen from afar, and forewarned of danger ; 
but the music enchanted the premonished sailor 
to hasten to the shore. Though the voices of the 
Syrens thrilled the hearts of all in the distance, 
ruin and woe came to all who approached them. 
A Syren' s voice attracts the young to the vestibule 
of the House of Death, and while some hasten 
away with fingers in their ears, many linger at the 
dangerous threshold. Reckless of consequences, 
yonder noble youth concludes to be a victim. Hav- 
ing defiled his imagination with the corrupting 
novel, and inflamed his passions by the exciting 
play, he is now induced to enter. But soon, alas ! 
he learns that the " strange woman," like a Upas 
tree, fills the air with moral pestilence. Her with- 



82 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

ering touch affects body, soul and spirit, and ruins 
the fairest of the fair. She embraces within her 
grasp, as the frightful Sirocco, to lay low in the 
dust. Branding her victims with the House of 
Death' s stigma, they leave with 

CHARACTER PAINTED OlST THE COUNTENANCE. 

We need not visit foreign picture galleries to be- 
hold pictures of the transforming power of vice. 
The strange woman with bloated face, and painted 
cheeks, and brazen brow, was once a blushing, mod- 
est girl. That repelling man, who carries the scars 
of his campaigns in the battle of appetite, was once 
a pure and joyous youth. Iniquity reveals its se- 
crets, and vice tells tales. The features become the 
play-ground of both thought and action, and carry 
the brands of the Divine indignation. The youth 
who recently entered with elastic step, and ruddy 
cheeks and sparkling eye, emerges with shattered 
nerves, pallid cheeks, filmy eyes, blunted moral 
sensibilities, the brand of moral death and ruined 
prospects. Near this compartment of sinful pleas- 
ure is a dead-sea stream 

' ' Of dark corruption ; far and wide it spreads ; 
And many sporting on the fatal brink, 
Do never more to health and hope return ; 
For those who plunge do straight forget their God, 
And curse themselves and die. ,; 



THE HOUSE OF DEATH. 83 

Surely the Christian youth need not envy that 
emaciated votary of pleasure who is daily filing off 
some delicate life-cord, and rapidly burning up vi- 
tality. The sinner' s guilty joys, like the crackling 
of thorns under a pot, sparkle brightly and crackle 
loudly, because they must soon burn out. He fears 
all the time that his shame may come to light, and 
that his virtuous friends will shun him. He looks 
this way and that way, as if a detective were after 
him ; and smiles with his face while he has the 
heart-ache. It is not well with the wicked even in 
this life. All soon learn, that 

THE VOTARIES OF PLEASURE ARE FEARFULLY 

DECEIVED. 

Their joys are transient, but the succeeding woes 
protracted and terrible. The goddess promises 
happiness but gives misery. She invites the young 
to see life, and those who see it find the rest of life 
a burden. She allures them into her temple to have 
a good time, but plunges them into wretchedness. 
That the goddess deceives her votaries, the adver- 
tising columns of the daily papers prove. How num- 
erous the advertisements " To the afflicted" — " To 
the unhappy " — " To nervous sufferers " — "To the 



84 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

melancholy '." Those who are thus offered joy-restor 
ing remedies, not to be nervous, nor afflicted, nor 
melancholy, became "fast voung men^ and with 
bounding step entered pleasure's temple; but now 
they are physically, morally, ment&ily and socially 
wietched. Their misdeeds haunt fchem, conscience 
troubles them, and the iharp ueeih of remorse bite 
their guilty spirits. Should the writer print the 
statistics of the House of Death, the writhing 
agonies of the wounded and groaning victims, 
would grate upon the ear, and be oif ensive to the 
eye ; and the records of the vast multitudes slain 
would fill the reader's iie&rt with sorrow. Could 
the bones of the human victims, morally and phy- 
sically slaughtered therein, including the skeletons 
of the youth of both sexes, once bright and noble, 
be gathered and piled, the circumference and 
height of the death-pile would horrify, and warn 
all pure young men and maidens, not to join the 
brotherhood of darkness. 

A HEART-TOTTCHIlSrG I^CIDE^T. 

Some time since a handsome and generous youth 
was engaged to a beautiful girl, who loved him with 
a guileless confidence. In an evil hour he is allured 



THE HOUSE OF DEATH. 85 

to enter pleasure' s dangerous temple. When this 
is known by her who expected soon to marry him, 
she begins to pine in anguish and soon dies through 
sorrow. He, who broke her pure and loving heart, 
is soon overtaken by physical and mental retribu- 
tion. A friend, whc is not aware that he had en- 
tered pleasure's temple, visits him. But, 0, how 
great the change ! His eyes are now dim, and his 
cheeks pale, and his tones sad, and his appearance 
ghastly J Not to alarm him by any allusion to his 
illness, his friend says: " How is Mary? When 
are you to be married ? ' ' With a terrible expres- 
sion he presses his hands to his face, and through 
streaming tears asks, "Have you €alled to heap 
still heavier reproach upon me?" As if heart- 
broken, he sobs, "0, Mary, Mary, dead, dead, 
dead/" His friend surprised, says "Dead/ that 
healthy, merry creature dead! That blooming 
cheek cold and white ! Those laughing eyes glassy 
and fixed ! That happy, loving voice silenced % 
Those tresses a mere bower for worms ! Is this pos- 
sible?" The sick man, drawing forth a picture, 
lifts it up, also a ringlet of hair, and, with downcast 
eyes, answers: u Yes, Mary is dead. This is all 
that I have left of her now. I shall never meet her 



86 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

more. Heaven was made for her, but Hell for 
me." 

THE PANGS OF REMORSE. 

His friend endeavored to soothe his sorrow, but 
he cries in a deep unnatural voice : " It is not that 
Mary is dead that cuts me so deeply, but by asso- 
ciating with * * * I caused my virtuous Mary's 
death. But, with her clinging heart withering 
away within her, she loved me to the end ; and her 
dying eyes — the homes of silent prayer — will haunt 
me through eternity in Hell!" No wonder that the 
pure maiden should have pined away when she saw 
that a foul hand, in the House of Death, had torn 
the blossoms of purity from him around whom her 
sympathies were twined, and had left only the 
dead leaves of the memory of a blighted love to 
strew upon her grave. In the emaciated form, and 
unnatural look, and agonizing groans, and bitter 
self-reproach of that remorse-stricken sick one, we 
learn the horrid history of the danger of standing 
even near the entrance to the House of Death. But 
whoever is meditating evil is at the dangerous 
threshhold ; and whoever anywhere indulges in sin, 
has crossed it and entered. Solomon, who went 



THE HOUSE OF DEATH. 87 

in and just escaped with his life, to the young 
gives 

ADVICE HOW TO ESCAPE THE HOUSE OF DEATH'S 

WOES : 

Say unto wisdom. Thou art my sister ; 

And call understanding thy kinswoman. 

That they may keep thee from the strange woman, 

From the stranger who flattereth with her words. 

For at the window of my house, 

I looked through my casement 

And beheld among the simple ones, 

I discerned among the youths, 

A young man void of understanding, * * * 

And, behold, there met him a woman 

With the attire of an harlot, and subtle of heart ; * * * 

So she caught him and kissed him, 

And with an impudent face said unto him : 

I have peace-offerings with me ; 

This day I have paid my vows ; 

Therefore came I forth to meet thee, 

Diligently to seek thy face ; and I have found thee. 

With her much fair speech she causeth him to yield, 

With the flattery of her lips she forced him. 

He goeth after her straightway, 

As an ox goeth to the slaughter, 

Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks • 

'Till a dart strike through his liver, 

Jr. s a bird hasteth to the snare 

And knoweth not that it is for nis life 

Hearken unto me now, therefore, O ye children, 

And attend to the words of my mouth. 

Let not thy heart decline to her ways, 



38 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

Go not astra/ in her paths ; 

For she hath cast down many wounded ; 

Yea, many strong men have been slain by her. 

Her house is the way to hell, 

Going down to the chambers of death. 

Therefore, remember now thy Creator in the days 
of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the 
years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no 
pleasure in them ; while the sun, or the light, or 
the moon, or the stars, be not darkened ; nor the 
clouds return after the rain ; in the day when the 
keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong 
men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease 
because they are few, and those that look out of the 
windows be darkened ; * * * * Because man 
goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about 
the streets ; * * * * Then shall the dust re- 
turn to the earth as it was ; and the spirit shall re- 
turn unto God who gave it. 



CHAPTER XL 




Imploring Cries for Help, and 

Vengeance. 

ANY are anxious to escape from the horrors 
of the House of Death. The air rings 
with cries for deliverance from a life of 
sin and shame. Many cry, "0, rescue 
us, rescue us, and we will consent to live on bread 
and water!" Others plead, "Do save us speedily, 
or soon reason will reel from her throne !" Many, 
in imploring tones, say, u 0, deliver us, deliver us, 
or we must escape the woes of this house by 
suicide !" Others, frantic by reason of their degra- 
dation, shriek in piercing tones, "Punish the vile 
wretches who brought us to this misery ! Why 
should those who hurled us from our pinnacle of 
virtue be considered respectable, enjoy the privi- 



90 THE TEMPLE OE PLEASURE. 

leges of society, and we be treated as perpetual social 
outcasts ? Place the same social brand on de- 
ceivers that is placed on the deceived, and Jceep them 
also from the homes of the virtuous." Some, wild 
with fury, cry, "Oh, Prince of Torment, seize 
those who corrupted us, and plunge them down to 
thy lowest depths of woe I" HarJc! harJc ! Several 
cry in awful unison, "0, King of Hell! if thou 
hast darts sharper than others, flames more blast- 
ing than others, fiends fiercer than others, let them 
give additional torment to those who allured, 
ruined, and then abandoned us!" Believing that 
their betrayers are in the hands of a righteous 
Judge, instead of imprecating vengeance, many 
plaintively say : 

Lord, in this Thy mercy's day, 

Ere it pass for aye away, 

On our knees we fall and pray : 

" O, God, make haste to help us ! 
O, Lord, make speed to save us /" 

CHRIST THE SAVIOUR OF THE FALLEN 1 . 

The Son of Man came to seek and to save that 
which is lost. Multitudes despised by men ven- 
tured into His gracious presence. By acquitting 



CRIES FOR HELP AND VENGEANCE. 91 

the woman whom the Pharisees brought to be con- 
demned, He proved that there is salvation for the 
vilest. As His blood cleanseth from all sin, the 
Church must not abandon poor fallen ones to the 
care of policemen, prisons, penitentiaries, and the 
bottomless pit ! 

The formal observance of imposing ritual, the 
regular repetition of the creed and the prayers, the 
due observance of the holy sacrament, and constant 
preaching to nurture the regenerate, do not com- 
plete the work for which Christ's Church was 
founded. Realising this, some of the clergy and 
laity are bursting through Gospel-hindering re- 
straints, and, Christ-like, are appealing to the uni- 
versal conscience and heart of humanity, and labor- 
ing with intense earnestness to seek and save the 
lost. Plaintively they sing :— 

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying, 
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave ; 

Weep o'er the erring ones, pity the fallen, 
Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save 

Down in the human heart, crushed by the Tempter, 
Feelings lie buried that grace can restore ; 

Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness, 
Chords that were broken will vibrate once more. 

Rescue the perishing, duty demands it ; 

Strength for thy labor the Lord will provide ; 
Back to the narrow way patiently win them, 

Tell the poor wanderer a Saviour has died. 



92 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

Believing that it is the duty of the Church to 
travail for the melioration of the Social Evil, the 
Archbishop of York fearlessly declares that, Chris- 
tianity is the only agency that can breast the 
power of any specific form of sin in the heart or 
the life. Legislation has failed, and must fail, to 
cure the sins of impurity £nd drunkenness, now so 
terribly prevalent, for only the power of a new life 
in Christ can cope with them successfully. The 
Evangelist- Archbishop denounces the share which 
the stronger, and therefore more guilty sex, have 
taken in the perpetuation of the social evil, which 
is one of the gloomiest chapters in the history of 
the human race. He unhesitatingly declares, that 
free and full forgiveness of all sin, through the 
finished work of Christ, should be proclaimed 
unto all. 

MIDKIGHT MISSIONS TO RESCUE THE FALLEN. 

During the years that Church work was confined 
to a few hours on Sunday, multitudes of lost ones 
passed to the world of woe umcarned. Through de- 
voted Christian laymen, and self-sacrificing women, 
a few heard that Christ is the protector of the defence- 
less, the comforter of the mourner, the friend of 



CRIES FOR HELP AND VENGEANCE. 93 

the outcast \ and the Saviour of the lost. But for 
several years past many ministers have respectfully 
refused to confin 3 their ministrations to those only 
who are able to pay pew rent. Some who prearch 
in gorgeous gothic churches by day, gladly address 
fallen ones in humble halls at midnight. In various 
cities, through church work after dark, many have 
been rescued, and sad hearts filled with ecstacy. 
Through the midnight mission in London, for 
twenty years past, about a thousand fallen ones 
have been annually reclaimed. During the last 
fifteen years one committee alone reached twenty- 
five thousand one hundred fallen ones, and over 
seventy per cent, have been reformed. They ranged 
in age from fifteen to forty years. More than half 
had been left orphans, and had grown up without 
special protection. Records show that many are 
ruined through debasing literature, and accompany- 
ing godless young men to balls and parties, con- 
certs and theatres ; some through deluding adver- 
tisements to entrap the unwary, and others through 
starvation wages or extreme poverty. Said one 
who wrote to the L. M. M. Secretary, "I am a poor, 
unfortunate girl ; I have no means of earning my 
living ; I have not a friend in the world. I have 



94 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

been so reduced with illness that i" lived on one 
shilling a week before I ever did wrong. Oh, sir, 
for the love of all you hold dear on earth and in 
Heaven, do not treat this lightly, for it is impos- 
sible to live much longer as I am at present." A 
London police detective affirmed that ninety-nine 
times in a hundred a young woman' s abandonment 
to sin can be traced to the unkind or brutal treat- 
ment of relatives or employers. 

HOW A RESCUED FALLEN 0]N"E WAS GREETED. 

Under the plain preaching of a faithful minister, 
an abandoned one is convicted of the evil of her 
course, and gladly enters a penitentiary. After 
she had found mercy, she often thought of her 
mother, and one day said: "If my mother is alive 
I desire to see her ; and if she is dead I should like 
to see her grave." To gratify her wish, a Christian 
takes her to where her mother lived. Knocking at 
a neighbor's door, he asks whether Mrs. * * * now 
lives at the old place, and receives the answer, " She 
does ; but if she is alive, that's all — she is dying /" 
Soon he enters the mother's room, and finds her 
very weak, but happy in the Lord. " What should 
I do now" she says, " had I no Saviour f" Think- 



CRIES FOR HELP AND VENGEANCE. 95 

ing of her long-lost daughter the hot tears start. 
Loving her fallen child, she says, " I have one dear 
and only daughter. If I could see my dear child 
once more, give her my dying advice, and parting 
kiss and blessing" The Christian who accompan- 
ied her daughter, to relieve the mother's anxiety, 
says: "Your child still lives." The mother in- 
stantly answers, "Oh, then, there is hope for her 
yet!" At a given signal the daughter enters, and 
the mother throws her dying arms around her neck, 
saying: " Oh, my dear child, my dear child! 
that God would save you!" The daughter having 
asked her mother's forgiveness, she answers, " Ah ! 
my love, I never had aught against thee. Aslc the 
Lord to pardon thee" When the dying one hears 
the cheering words, " Oh, mother, the Lord, for 
Christ's sake has forgiven me," the overjoyed 
mother answers, "If this is true, let me die; for 
mine eyes have seen thy salvation !" 

A FATHER'S HEART HARDER THAN THE HEART OF 

A MOTHER. 

When the daughter hears her father's footstep 
she hides behind the curtain ; and when the stran- 
ger says, "Your wife is very ill, sir," he sternly 



96 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE, 

answers, " It is all through an accursed daughter /" 
To the question, "If your daughter asked pardon, 
would you forgive her % " with unrelenting look, he 
answers, " No ! I would dash her brains out against 
that door step I" Knowing that she is near, the 
dying wife says, " Would you not allow her to come 
and say farewell to me?" The husband answers, 
" I would let her say farewell to you, but I would 
turn her out of doors the moment after!' 5 The 
trembling daughter hearing this, resolves to come 
from her hiding place, kiss her dying mother, and 
at once leave the house to avoid expulsion. Ap- 
proaching the bedside, she kisses her mother, and 
with an aching heart, says, "Farewell" and turns 
to leave the house, but several times turns back 
again. 

IMPLORING AN INDIGNANT FATHER'S PARDON. 

With an aching heart the agitated girl turns to 
her father, falls upon her knees and humbly im- 
plores his forgiveness for all the sorrow she has 
caused him. But he sternly answers, "No! I wish 
you were dead, and in woe /" The penitent daugh- 
ter answers, "But mother has forgiven me, and 
God has forgiven me ; Father, will you not forgive 



OKIES FOR HELP AND VENGEANCE. 97 

me f" Cursing her, as before, he answers, "/ will 
not /" The daughter with streaming tears replies, 
' ' Well, if you will not forgive me, father, only let 
me kiss you and say good-bye." Placing her arms 
around his neck, she says, " G-ood-bye, good-bye, 
father/ 5 His sternness now unbends. His hard 
heart softens. His soal is thrilled with emotion. 
Relenting while his daughter' s arms are around his 
neck, in tremulous tone he says, " Oh, my daugh- 
ter, you have overcome meP* The lost child has 
been found. Her father is reconciled. Her mother 
departs in peace ! Her spirit bow mingles with 
angels, who, when a sinner repents, take their harps 
of gladness, and with joyful songs and choral sym- 
phonies — 

" CIRCLE ROUND GOD'S THRONE REJOICING. " 



CHAPTER XII 




Solomon s Ironical Mandate, and 
Solemn Warning. 

'FTER the manner that Elijah commands the 
priests of Baal, saying "Cry aloud ; for he 
is a god: either he is talking, or he is up 
and down at the altar* or he is in a jour- 
ney, of perdventure he sleepeth, and must be 
awaked, "f s0 Solomon says, " Rejoice, young 
man in thy youth ; and let thine heart cheer thee in 
the days of tny youth, and walk in the sight of 
thine eyes !"; But the counsel that the epicure, 
or atheist would give sincerely, Solomon utters 
ironically ; and to the young man and young wo- 
man who, despite their mother's tears and a father's 
entreaties, have resolved to enter Pleasure' s Temple, 

* Marginal fteading, t 1 Kings xviii., 27. % Eccles. xi., 9. 



SOLOMONS IRONICAL MANDATE. 99 

Solomon, with his silvered locks and furrowed brow, 
as if impatient at their folly, cries, "Go! Go ! ! 
Live a merry life ! Do what you please ! Visit 
each department of Pleasure's Temple! Stop at 
nothing that will gratify appetite." But, that he 
may not be misunderstood, with solemn face, and 
subdued tone, he adds, "But know thou, that for 
all these things God will bring thee into judg- 
ment." 

Because the young and giddy turn not at God's 
reproof, Solomon seriously inquires : 

" How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity ? 
And the scorners delight in their scorning ?" 

Hear now God's warning to those who despise 
Him: 

Because I have called, and ye have refused ; 

I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded 5 

But ye have set at naught all my counsel, 

And would none of my reproof : 

I also will laugh at your calamity 

I will mock when your fear cometh ; 

"When your fear cometh as desolation, 

And your destruction cometh as a whirlwind ; 

When distress and anguish cometh upon you , 

Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer ; 

They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me : 

For that they hated knowledge 

And did not choose the fear of the Lord ; 



100 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, 
And be filled with their own devices. 
For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, 
And the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. 
But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, 
And shall be quiet from fear of evil.* 



REJOICING TURNED TO MOURNING-. 

In a distant city multitudes are crowding into a 
capacious building, and anticipate great joy. The 
place is gaily decorated, and garlands embellish the 
walls, galleries and orchestra. Draperies of gauze 
and muslin, and vases with tissue-paper flowers 
produce a pleasing effect. The scene-paintings are 
made dazzling by a thousand suspended lamps on 
the walls and ceiling. Strains of lively music burst 
from the orchestra, and all seem happy as the mer- 
ry birds of Spring. To illumine a transparent cres- 
cent a man is igniting the lamps, but the paraffine 
takes fire, and, swift as lightning, the surrounding 
gauzy fabrics are all ablaze ! The flames mount to 
the cupola, and ignite the paraffine in the pendant 
lamps. Instantly is heard the shriek of alarm and 
the wail of despair. The strings suspending the lamps 
are burned, and they fall upon the terror-stricken 



* Prov, ij. 22-35. 



SOLOMON'S IRONICAL MANDATE. 101 

multitude. The flames roar furiously, and soon 
spread through the edifice. Escape is impossible, 
for none can pass the spreading sheets of flame. 
Fed by the parafline-saturated clothing of the vic- 
tims, on whom the lamps from the ceiling fell, the 
entire area resembles a sea of flaming fire ! Shrieks 
rend the air, and the cries of agony are terrible ! 
Soon the roof falls, and the fragile dome comes 
down with fearful crash, burying the roasting and 
hissing bodies beneath the ruins ! Thus, without 
premonition, or time to devise means of escape, 
this dire calamity burst upon the victims, leaving 
nothing of the decorated place but an unsightly 
pile of ruins, and nothing of the multitude who had 
assembled to be joyful, but their calcined bones — 
illustrating how suddenly earthly gladness may be 
turned into sorrow, and also how what is material 
and temporal speedily passeth away. 

With luxury and pride surrounded, 

The votary of earth may dare 
To gratify desires unbounded, 

Till overwhelmed with dark despair. 

RETRIBUTION, PRESENT AND TO COME. 

All who enter the Temple of Pleasure and join 
the brotherhood of darkness, in whatever depart- 



102 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE, 

ment they may revel, soon learn that, adjacent to 
the temple are retributive dungeons. For while 
new victims are entering, many who preceded them 
are writhing in agony, and many daily die. And 
as branches of sin' s temple are wherever sin is com- 
mitted, so retributive wards are wherever mental 
and physical sorrows follow. The votaries of pleas- 
ure who, through their iniquity, are ill in the un- 
carpeted garrets or gloomy cellars, in low lodging- 
houses or in darkened rooms of gorgeous mansions, 
in palaces, hospitals or prisons, may consider them- 
selves in the Temple's wards of punishment, and 
awaiting the judgment to come. 

Great God f what do I see and hear I 

The end of things created ; 
The Judge of all men doth appear 
On clouds of glory seated : 
The trumpet sounds, the graves restore 
The dead which they contained before ; 
Prepare my soul, to meet Him. 

THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE IK FLAMES. 

The territory of this temple [is a sin-cursed 
earth. The inmates are those who serve the world, 
the flesh and the devil. From the Library, Dance- 
Hall, Saloon of Bacchus, Gambling Hell, Theatre 
and House of Death, hideous shrieks rend the air. 



SOLOMONS IRONICAL MANDATE. 103 

The themes of the corrupting novel now burn their 
readers' polluted spirits. The evils that resulted 
from dancing disquiet the souls of those thereby 
corrupted. The throats of drunkards seethe with 
the bitter dregs of the wife's woe and the chil- 
dren's sorrow. The ill-gotten gains of gamblers 
burn them like molten fire. Harrowing pangs of 
concentrated woe torture those who led the virtuous 
to the House of Death, and all who, in desperate 
revenge, then allured others thither. Their aroused 
consciences inflict terrible torments, and remorse 
fiercely bites their guilty spirits. The foundation of 
the temple shakes, and the terrified inmates wildly 
rush hither and thither. The hail-storm of judg- 
ment rattles on the roof, and the lightning' s forked 
flashes reveal the horrors now reigning within. 
Flames suddenly burst from every door and win- 
dow, and their irradiating brightness turns night 
into day. The different departments of the temple 
are consumed in rapid succession, and the horrid 
cries of the inmates grow fainter and fainter. The 
flames rush from avenue to avenue, and the Fire- 
fiend spreads destruction as during his reign in 
Chicago and Boston. The Temple of Pleasure is 
destroyed by Grod' s let-loose vengeance ! But where 
are now the guilty inmates ? 



CHAPTER XIII 



St. Augustine and the Fallen 

Gladiator. 



(,HE importance of avoiding places of tempta- 
tion was strikingly illustrated by St. Au- 




gustine. Soon after his conversion, some 
of his old companions desired him to accom- 
pany them to the amphitheatre, but as he detested 
the gladiatorial combats he declined the invitation. 
With persistence they declared that he must cer- 
tainly go if they had to force him thither ; but with 
vehemence he answered, ' ' though you drag my body 
to that place and set me there, can you force me to 
turn my mind or my eyes to look at the combats ?" 
Strong in his resolution not to be tempted, he adds, 
" I shall then be absent while present, and so shall 
overcome both you and them!" Overpowered by 



ST. AUGUSTINE AND THE GLADIATOK. 105 

the strength of his companions, he is forced into the 
amphitheatre, but closes his eyes, and forbids his 
thoughts to dwell on the human struggle. But 
though his eyes are closed his ears are open ! One 
of the combatants falls, and, to applaud the victor, 
the air rings with the usual bursts of shouting ! 
This mighty sound, exciting Augustine's curiosity, 
he opens his eyes ! Beholding the blood of the 
vanquished one, he drinks down savageness. In- 
stead of turning away his head and again closing 
his eyes Tie becomes intoxicated with the butcher- 
ing pastime. With his old associates who forced 
him into the place, now spattered with human 
blood, he becomes highly excited ! As he beholds 
the continued conflicts, Augustine and his com- 
panions shout aloud in unison ! He affirmed that 
he would overcome them by being absent in mind, 
though present in body ! But by placing him 
where he could hear what he could not see, they 
overcame Mm. 

SATAN CANNOT COMPEL US TO SIN. 

He has ability to allure, but not to coerce. He 
can strongly tempt, but has limited power. Were 
we guilty because severely tempted, our destruction 



106 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

would be certain. But were we prompted to sin by 
ten thousand devils, so long as we yield not we are 
innocent. We do not sin, therefore, when only 
tempted, for we are in no way responsible for the 
work of the devil. Responsibility commences just 
when the will voluntarily yields to his temptation, 
saying, "that sin I will gladly commit" God 
Himself does not force the human will. He allures 
to acts of holiness, but to be virtuous they must be 
voluntary. For being in the amphitheatre St. 
Augustike was not responsible. For his forced 
presence there his companions were accountable. 
But when he opened his eyes, and applauded hu- 
man butchering, that instant he was personally 
guilty. Because Satan cannot force the will he 
acts indirectly by his subtle wiles or his fiery darts. 
At first he incites but a single wicked thought. 
Like an archer shooting his arrow, the mind sends 
this evil thought across a deep chasm. Though 
fine as a gossamer thread, once fixed on the opposite 
side, it can draw over a small cord of evil desire. 
This cord attached can draw over a rope of sinful 
emotion. This rope of passion draws the wire of 
voluntary consent, and soon this mental suspension 
bridge is a sure pathway to actual evil. The one 



ST. AUGUSTINE AND THE GLADIATOK. 107 

tempted, having said "I will" is walking across it 
to that department of Pleasure's Temple where his 
heart is. Therefore impress your mind with the 
importance of mental purity. And as Satan charms 
through the polluting novel, the lascivious dance, 
the indecent ballad, the rattling dice, the drunk- 
ard's bowl, the corrupting play, and the courtesan's 
voice, pray : 

Create in me a clean heart, O God ; 
And renew a durable spirit within me. 

HOW ALL MAY KEEP FROM FALLING. 

Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin, 
Each vict v ry will help you some other go win ; 
Fight manfully onward, dark passions Gii6due, 
Look ever to Jesus, He'll carry you through. 

Shun evil companions, bad language disdain, 
God's name hold in reverence, nor take it in vain ; 
Be thoughtful and earnest, kind-hearted and true, 
Look ever to Jesus, He'll carry you through. 

To him that o'ercometh God giveth a crown, 
Through faith we snail conquer though often cast down ; 
The merciful Saviour, our strength will renew, 
Look ever to Jesus, He'll carry you through. 

Ask the Saviour to help you, 
Comfort, strengthen and keep you ? 
He is willing to aid you, 
He will carry you through. * 



* H. R. Palmer. 



108 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

. God will not allow Satan to tempt you immoder- 
ately, — above your ability to bear. He will not per- 
mit him to overpower your will, nor to force you to 
sin. God, who permits you to be tempted, will 
give you equivalent strength. When duly tested, 
He will open the door of escape, and deliver you 
from the (d)evil. For forty days Christ was tempt- 
ed by Satan in the wilderness, but yielding not, 
He retained His purity. Having Himself suffered 
through temptation, He will give you strength to 
wrestle with the adversary, and make you victori- 
ous, saying : Thanks be to God who givelh me the 
victory through my Lord Jesus Christ.* 



* 1 Cor. xv, 57, 



CHAPTER XIV. 




Mercy for the Temple s Sin-sick. 

HILE Christ shunned the company of the 
giddy and the gay, He was present for 
their welfare in seasons of sorrow. 
Though He sat not at the table of the 
palace of the Caesars, He ate and drank with pub- 
licans and sinners. He has left many footsteps 
of His journeys to places of sorrow, to heal the sick 
and lame, open the ears of the deaf and give sight 
to the blind. One charge brought against Him by 
the hypocritical Pharisees He never denied, viz., 
" This man receiveth sinners /" Those who have 
burned up their vitality in the Temple of Pleasure, 
and who are now sick and wretched, may banish 
dark despair, and find Christ a friend. He offers 
mercy to the vilest, and, to inspire with hope, de- 
clares, u They that are whole need not a physician, 



110 THE TEMPLE OP PLEASURE. 

but they that are sick" To the sin-sick in Pleas- 
ure' s Dungeons, He says : " I came not to call the 
righteous, but sinners to repentance." He is going 
over the dangerous precipice to rescue the bruised 
sheep, and hastening over hill and dale, to catch 
the cry of suffering, and turn sorrow into joy ! 
With eyes beaming with love, He is going 
through the Temple's hospital, saying, in tones of 
mercy, "Look unto Me and live" Through the 
chaplains in prisons, reformatories and penitentiar- 
ies He proclaims the glad tidings : All who are in 
danger, I am ready to rescue ! All who are guilty, 
I will freely pardon ! All who repent and believe, 
G-od will fully justify ! All who are polluted, the 
Holy Grhost can sanctify ! 

There is a fountain filled with blood, 

Drawn from Immanuel's veins ; 
And sinners plunged beneath that flood 

Lose all their guilty stains ! 

G-od hates the sins committed in Pleasure's Tem- 
ple, but to the agonized sufferers He is merciful and 
gracious. Christ, Himself, is pure and spotless, 
but His hand of love lifts up the vilest. Though 
the Holy Grhost has long been grieved, He waits to 
impart peace that passeth understanding. To show 



MERCY FOR THE TEMPLE'S SIN-SICK. Ill 

that there is mercy for the penitent and hope for the 
polluted, Mercy justified the sin-confessing publi- 
can, and cold the guilty woman to " Go, and sin no 
more ■ ° s A broken and contrite spirit, God does not 
despise. He pardoneth and absolveth all who truly 
repent, and unf eignedly believe His holy Gospel. 
All who are riglited through faith have peace with 
God through Jesus Christ. There is no condemna- 
tion to them that are in Christ Jesus ! On earth 
the penitent and pardoned profligate sings : 

" Hallelujah, 'tis done ! I believe on the Son ; 
I am saved through the blood of the Crucified One." 

This joyful sound reaching the throne above, the 
glad command is given : 

Ring the bells of Heaven ! There is joy to-day, 

For the wand'rer now is reconciled ! 
Yea, a soul is rescued from his sinful way, 

And is born a- new, a ransomed child. 

Glory ! glory ! how the angels sing ; 
Glory ! glory ! how the loud harps ring ; 
'Tis the ransomed army, like a mighty sea, 
Pealing forth the anthem of the free. 



CHAPTER XV, 




The Grand Finale. 

Howl, ye, for the day of the Lord is at hand ; 

It shall come as a destruction from the Almighty I* 

Y command of Jehovah, soon will be dis- 
played before the assembled universe, the 
world's catastrophe. He hath appointed a 
day in which He will judge the world in 
righteousness, f Then will occur the crash of Gen- 
tile nations.;]: And 

When shall sit the Judge unerring, 
He'll unfold all here occurring, 
No just vengeance then deferring. 

The Evangelistic-angel, flying through the midst of 
Heaven, proclaims, with a loud voice, 

Fear God and give glory to Him, 

For the hour of His judgment is com©.§ 

* Isaiah ziii 6. i Acts xvii 3L % Dan. ii. a5. § Be v. xiv. 6, 7. 



THE GRAND FINALE. 113 

The premonitions that the great day of the 
Lord is near and hasteth greatly, are the celestial 
omens in the sun and moon and stars — fearful 
sights and great signs. * The political portents are : 
wars and rumors of wars ; great distress of nations 
with perplexity ; men' s hearts failing them with 
fear through gloomy forbodings,f The moral 
auguries are : Seducing Spiritualists urging 
Christians to pry into the secrets of the departed 
through under-table-rapping demons, who, in this 
age of telegrams and of stenography, have to 
pore through the alphabet to give a spirit- demon's 
short name.4 Also perilous times through indi- 
vidual selfishness ; disregard of parental author- 
ity ; absence of natural affection ; reckless con- 
tract breaking ; despising the truly godly, and 
a form of godliness without the power. % The 
precursors ecclesiastical are : Faithful and 
wise ministers crying, "Behold the Bridegroom 
cometh speedily \"\ and their laity, the Wise 
Virgins, gladly going forth to meet Him. If The 
Peace and Safety Ministers, smiting those who 
alarm the slumberers, eating and drinking with the 
drunken, and proclaiming to their laity, the Fool- 

* Matt. xxiv. 29 ; Luke xxi. 21 t Luke xxi. 25, 26. % 1 Tim. iv. 1; Rev. xvi. 
24. § 2 Tim. iii. 3-5. i Matt. xxiv. 45-46. 1 Matt. xxv. 4-10. 



114 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASUEE. 

ish Virgins : Sleep ye on and slumber, the Lord 
delayeth His coming, and the Judgment is not 
nigh /* But the wise ministers and the wise vir- 
gins drown the cry, singing : 

We are living, we are dwelling 

In a grand and awful time ; 
In an age on ages telling, 

To be living is sublime. 

Hark! the waking up of nations, 

Gog and Magog to the fray ; 
Hark! what soundethf 'Tis creation 

Groaning for its latter day. 

Will ye play, then, will ye dally, 

With your music and your wine ? 
Up ! it is Jehovah's rally ! 

God's own arm hath need of thine. 

Hark ! the onset ! will ye fold your 

Faith-clad arms in lazy lock 9 
Up ! O up ! thou drowsy soldier ; 

Worlds are charging to the shock. 

World's are charging— Heaven beholding % 

Thou hast but an hour to fight ; 
Now the blazoned cross unfolding, 

On— right onward for the right. 

On! let all the soul within you 
For the truth's sake go abroad! 

Strike! let every nerve and sinew 
Tell on ages— tell for God. f 

* Matt- xxiv. 48-51; xxv. 3-8. t Rt. Rev. A. C. Coxe, D.D., LL.D. 



THE GRA^D FINALE. 115 

INAUGURATION OF THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 

This Judicial Day of the Lord will continue a 
thousand years, and synchronize with the Millenni- 
um.* In the morning of this great day Satan will 
be bound ;f the righteous dead will be raised ;J the 
living saints be changed ;§ and both be caught up 
in companies to meet their Saviour in the air At 
the close of this Judicial Day Satan will be loosed, 
and the wicked dead be raised. || Those raised in 
the morning of the Millennial Day will have part in 
the First Resurrection.^ Those raised at its close 
will be hurt of " The Second Death"** The dual- 
judgment points of the Day of the Lord have been 
compared to the two summits of a mountain, which 
from the distance look like one, but when viewed 
from a nearer spot are clearly seen to be two. The 
great assembly described in Christ's prophecy on 
Mount Olivet, ft may refer only to the nations 
alive on the earth when Christ displays His glory, 
and every eye shall see Him 4^: The Sheep, on the 
right hand, may symbolize the raptured saints,— 
translated to escape the horrors of the emptying 
vials of wrath. The Goats, on the left hand, the 

* Psalm xc. 4; 2 Pet. iii. 8; Rev. xx. 2, 5-7. t Rev. xx. 1, 2. % Psalm 

xlix. 14; Dan. xii. 2; Rev. xx. 5. « 1 Thes. iv. 16, 17. 1 Rev. xx. 5-7. 

** Rev. xx. 6 ; Rev. xx, 14. ft Matt. xxv. 31-46. XX Dan. vii. 9, 10; Matt. xxiv. 
30: Rev. i. 7. 



116 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

wicked, who are left to endure the plagues foretold 
by St. Joror in the Book of Revelation.* Those 
caught up, embrace all the believing Jews and Gen- 
tiles. Those left, include all the unbelieving Jews 
and Gentiles, who will suffer indignation and wrath, 
tribulation and anguish, f 

The allotted time for the rule of the nations hav- 
ing ended, the times of the Gentiles will be then ful- 
filled.^: The Judge will rule them with a rod of 
iron, shiver them into pieces like the broken vessels 
of a potter, § and personally reign over the utter- 
most parts of the earth — "His own purchased pos- 
session,"! The nations symbolized by Daniel's im- 
perial image will thus be smitten, crushed, pulver- 
ized and scattered ; and the symbolic stone fill the 
whole earth. T[ 

Day of judgment, day of wonders, 
Hark ! the trumpet's awful sound, 

Louder than a thousand thunders 
Shakes the vast creation round ! 
How the summons 
Will the sinner's heart confound ! s 



* Ch. xiv. 6, 7. t Rom. ii. 8-11. % Luke xxi. 24; Rom. ii. 25. § Psalm ii. 9. 
Ij Rev. ii .27; Kph. i. 13, 14; Rev. xi. 15. 1 Danl. ii. 34, 35, 44. 



CHAPTER XVI. 




The Specific Object of the Day of 

Doom. 

OD has not appointed the Day of Judgment 
to ascertain who is guilty and who is in- 
nocent. Because, to the Omniscient Judge, 
this is already known, the righteous hath 
hope in his death, * and is numbered with the 
blessed dead ; and the wicked is driven away in 
his wickedness, and foresees his doom with hor- 
ror, f The specific object of the Judicial Day 
will be to manifest Jehovah's glories, and display 
His righteous government. Now, all seems con- 
fused, but then, all will see its harmony. The 
tangled intricacies of human thought and speech 
and action, will be by God unravelled before all an- 
gels and all men. He can now convince the indi- 



* Prov. xiv. 32: Rev. xiv. 1. t Pro v. xiv. 32. 



118 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

vidual that lie har, treated liim with equity ; but He 
will then convince every soul that he has dealt with 
all the others justly. For as the brilliant sun at 
noonday demonstrates the Creator's omnipotence, 
the Day of Judgment will demonstrate His right- 
eousness. Then, from Hell and Earth and Heaven 
the universal confession will arise : " Righteousness 
and justice are the basis of God's throne!"* 

ISTO CONDEMNATION FOE THE RIGHTEOUS. 

They must all appear at the judgment of Christ, 
and their works will be reviewed ;f but they shall 
not come into condemnation.^: Their' s will be the 
sentence of acquittal, as embodied in the words, 
" Come, ye blessed "% They will be inaugurated on 
thrones of glory, and be assessors with Christ in 
His judicial administrations. || But the wicked will 
be manifested or turned inside out, and each be de- 
veloped till the mind becomes visible as the body. 

To be placed on the right hand is the symbol of 
justification and acquittal ; but to stand on the left 
is that of guilt and condemnation.^ All the justi- 
fied will be serene and joyful.** They desired this 

_ * Psalm Ixxii. 2; xcii. 2. t'Rom. xiii. 11; xiv. 10; 2 Cor. v. 10; 1 Cor. iii. 13. 
$ John v. 24. •§ Matt. xxv. 34; Rom. ii. 1G; xiv. 12. 11 1 Cor. vi. 23 ; Psa. cxlix. 
5-9. U Matt. xxv. 33; John ill. 18, 19. ** Isaiah xxviii. 16. 



OBJECT OF THE DAY OF DOOM. 119 

day and prayed for its arrival. In ecstacy they 
sing: "Lo this is our God; we have waited for 
Him ; we will be glad and rejoice in His salva- 
tion!"* 

Nothing hath the just to lose 

By worlds on worlds destroyed. 
Far beneath his feet he views 

With smiles the flaming void. 

Because their inheritance will be richer in texture 
than the star- woven skies, and firmer in stability 
than the everlasting hills, brighter grows their glad 
hope of fruition, and louder swells their song of 
triumph : " Jehovah reigneth ! He is clothed with 
majesty ; He is clothed with strength wherewith He 
hath girded Himself. ' ' f 

Christ's manifested glory makes the wicked 

wail. 

Once He came as a sin-atoning Sufferer, and was 
destitute of form and comeliness. He was arrayed 
in robes of legal mockery, and His sacred cheeks 
were smitten. But now He appears, to reign, and 
tread the wine-press .of the fierceness and wrath of 
the Almighty. All kings and great ones stand in 



120 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASUREo 

awe of Him ; and from His dazzling presence seek 
to hide.* Once he was falsely accused before For- 
tius Pilate, and condemned to be crucified. But 
noio all time-serving and city-treasury-emptying 
politicians, and unjust judges, must stand before 
Him. Once His followers were poor, and by the 
world despised. But now He is surrounded by His 
hosts of saints and angels. Once His sacred brow 
was crowned with thorns, and His face marred 
more than the sons of men ; down His furrowed 
cheeks tears of bitter sorrow trickled ; his soul 
was wrung with anguish, and in agony He cried : 
" Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto 
My sorrow?" But now He resembles the sun, shin- 
ing in his strength, and is decked with many 
crowns. He holds the sceptre of the universe, and 
on His regal vesture is written, King of Kings, and 
Lord of Lords, f His dazzling throne, woven from 
heaven's garniture, and burnished with brightest 
sunbeams, is more glorious than sunrise and sunset 
with their brilliant vermilion and tints of molten 
gold. To judge all men according to their works, 
Christ has arisen from His throne of mercy, and 
from His judicial throne no pardons are issued, foi 

* Rev. i, 5-7 ; vi, 15-17. t Rev. xix, 16. 



OBJECT OF THE DAY OF DOOM. 121 

probation has ended. * To all now on the left of 
the Judge He once freely offered mercy ; but be- 
cause they rejected it, they now dread their doom. 

The ungodly, filled with guilty fears, 

Behold His wrath prevailing ; 
Aghast they look, but all their tears 
And sighs are unavailing ; 
The day of grace is past and gone ; 
Trembling they stand before His throne, 
All unprepared to meet Him, 

God's children are in the world ? but are not of 
the world, and are now on this territory as 
pilgrims and strangers. After they are caught 
up to meet their Saviour in the air, the up- 
lifted sword of vengeance will fall upon the 
wicked, and the bent bow of wrath propel the 
arrows of judgment. Forked lightnings flash and 
disimprisoned thunders rumble. In crash fol- 
lowing crash and rumble succeeding rumble, the 
guilty hear re-echoed : For all thy sins God 
brings thee into judgment. God, in judg- 
ment, reigneth, and does not keep silence ; a 
fierce fire devoureth, and all around it is 
very tempestuous.^ The earth quakes before 
Him, and the heavens tremble. Behold the day 

* Luke xiii. 24-25. 



122 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

has come that burns as an oven, and all who have 
done wickedly are now as stubble. The earth 
itself is melting, and the works thereof are burn- 
ing. But the raptured saints are in their pavillion 
of safety, reigning with the Judge of the quick 
and the dead. 

Let the saints be joyful in glory ; 

Let Jehovah's high praise be in their mouth, 

And a two-edged sword in their hand, 

To execute vengeance upon the heathen, 

And punishments upon the people ; 

To bind their kings with chains, 

And their nobles with fetters of iron ; 

To execute upon them the judgment written, 

This house have all His saints. Hallelujah !* 

THE RESURRECTION OF THE WICKED. 

The wicked just described are those alive on the 
earth at Christ's glorious Epiphany. At the close of 
the millennial day Satan will be loosed for a little 
season, f To face the executive judgment, the 
wicked dead will then be raised.:}: 

At Christ's call the dead awaken, 

Rise to life from earth and sea ; 
All the powers of nature shaken 

By His looks prepare to flee — 
Careless sinner, 

What will then become of thee f 

* Psalm cxlix. 5-9. t Rev. xx, 3. % Bsv. xx. 7 



OBJECT OF THE DAY OF DOOM. 123 

At the beginning of the Millennial day angels 
gather Christ's elect from the four points of the 
compass.* At its close, Satan gathers his hosts 
from the four quarters of the earth. Deceiving 
them through a promise of victory, they assemble 
together for battle, and are numerous as the sand of 
the sea.f Headed by Satan they compass the 
camp of the saints about, and the beloved city. 
But no battle is fought, for fire descends from 
Heaven and devours them !:£ All having been judged 
according'to their works, their woe will be eternal. || 
They will be forever banished from the presence 
of the Lord, and from the Glory of His power. § 

NO BRIDGE OF MERCY FROM HELL TO HEAVEN. 

All who arise in the Second resurrection, and are 
"hurt of the Second death," carry to the future 
world their prevailing inclinations. The envious 
and the jealous, the covetous and the revengeful, 
the drunkard and the sensualist, after the judg- 
ment, will be preyed upon by their master-pas- 
sions. Sinful desires,, wrought into the height of 
f uriousness, will torment like fire ; and ungrati- 
fied passions agitate the spirit as an undying worm. 
The sinner' s enmity against God, whom he has no 



* Matt. xxiv. 31. t Rev. xx. 8. $ Rev. xx. 9. || Thess. i. 9. § Rev. xx. 10. 



124 THE TEMPLE OP PLEAPHBE. 

power to dethrone, will cause weeping, wailing and 
gnashing of teeth. The objects of sinful indulgence 
that time grants, eternity will deny ; and an eternal 
desire to sin will be itself eternal and unmitigated 
woe. Voluptuousness of heart is a spirit-flame 
that will never be extinguished ; and without any 
material sources of punishment, the tyranny of un- 
restrained and ungratified passions will inflict judg- 
ment terrible and eternal. The holy will be per- 
petually holy, and the filthy eternally filthy.* 
Therefore all who are out of Christ will be wretched 
for ever and ever. To escape this, strive to enter in 
at the strait gate, for many shall seek to enter in 
and shall not be able when Christ, the Master of the 
House, hath risen up and shut Mercy' s door. 



He that oeiieveth on the son hath everlasting life. 
And fie that believeth not on the Son haih not life; 
But the wrath of God abideth on him l\ 



THE CONFLAGRATION OF THE EARTH, AND THE 

♦HEAVENS. 

In connection with the last Great Day, the atmos- 
pheric Heavens pass away with a great noise, the ele- 
ments melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the 

* Rev. sxii. 11. t John iii. 36. 



OBJECT OF THE DAY OF DOOM. 125 

works therein are burned.* Through Adam's sin 
the earth was cursed ; and through the guilt of suc- 
cessive generations it is now defiled, f Its substance 
will not be annihilated, but it must pass through a 
fiery regeneration^ The enthroned Judge lets loose 
the treasures of flame, and the atmospheric Heavens, 
that have vibrated with blasphemies and poisoned 
with pestilence, blaze and explode, and with a great 
noise pass away.§ While Jehovah shaketh the 
heavens, the earth staggers like a drunkard, || and the 
rocky mountains burn and melt. The oceans boil 
and hiss, and their waters evaporate. As you must 
behold the Judge descending, and see His retinue 
gathering! — hear the last trumpet sounding and 
see the nations assembling ! — are you prepared to 
meet Him ? You know neither the day nor the 
hour, when he will summon His saints to ascend to 
His pavilion of safety. T Therefore the Archangel, 
at any moment, may shout, ' * Ascend. 5 ' Should the 
trump of God now sound, would you be changed 
in the twinkling of an eye, and be caught up with 
those who will ascend to meet the Saviour in the 
air, ** or be numbered with the wicked, who will sure- 
ly be " left ?"ft Christ is- the only Hiding place 
and Covert from the storm. 



* 2 Pet. iii. 10. t Isa. xxiv. 5. % Acts iii. 21. § Psalm cii. 26 ; 2 Pet. iii. 10 
I Isaiah xxiv. 20. H Matt. xxiv. 36. ** 1 Cor. xv. 51-52. ft Matt. xxiv. 40-41. 



CHAPTER XVII. 




The New Heavens and the New 

Earth. 

|ROM the molten mass into which, this sin-poL 
luted globe will be melted, the enthroned 
Judge will create a new heaven and a new 
earth ;* the home of the blessed and the 
holy. Because Christ's sacrificial death was their 
ground of hope, His precepts their rule of con- 
duct, His life their model, and His righteousness 
their spotless robe ; with Him in the new earth 
they shall reign for ever. This inheritance, in- 
corruptible, undefiled, and unfading, f will be illu- 
minated with the Saviour's ineffable brightness, be 
covered with visible glory, be surrounded with an 
atmosphere that will vibrate only with sounds of 
gladness. Hark ! In the beginning God created the 

* Isa. lxv, 17 ; % Pet. iii, 13 ; Rev. xxi r 15. tl Pet. i. 4; 



ISTEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 127 

heavens and the earth. * Behold, I create a new 
Heaven and a new earth, f We, according to this 
promise, look for new heavens and a new earth. T I 
saw a new heaven and a new earth.J Blessed are 
the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. § They 
sung a new song saying, And we shall reign on the 
earth. || The greatness of the Kingdom under 
the whole heaven shall be given to the people of 
the saints of the Most High.T The kingdoms of 
this world have become the Kingdoms of our God 
and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and 
ever.** God's will, in this new earth, will be for- 
ever done as now done in heaven, ff 

THE GREAT CONTRAST. 

The most pleasant climate, the most delightful 
scenery, the purest atmosphere, the most amiable 
companions, the largest fortunes and the highest 
seats of honor, are not to be compared with the 
riches and glories and honors of the new heavens 
and the new earth. Though some shrink from 
looking for what they call "a material heaven" 

they know that the Saviour has a glorified material 
body. An eminent philosophical divine affirms 

* Gen. i. 1-11; Isa. lxv. 17; t 2 Pet. iii. 13; $ Rev. xxi. 1. § Matt. v. 5. 
II Rev. v. 10. 1 Dan. vii. 27. * * Rev. xi. 15. 1 1 Matt. vi. 10. 



128 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE, 

truly, that there is no necessary connexion between 
materialism and sin ; that the world which we now 
inhabit, had all the solidity and amplitude of its 
present materialism before sin entered into it ; that 
God, so far, on that account, from looking slightly 
upon it, after it had received the last touch of His 
creating hand, reviewed the earth and the waters, 
and the firmament, and all the green herbage with 
the living creatures, and the man whom he had 
raised to dominion over them ; and He saw every- 
thing that He had made, and behold, it was all 
very good* A mere atmospheric heaven, with in- 
habitants floating on ether, mysteriously suspended 
upon nothing, and all its elements attenuated into 
something intangible and imperceptible, does not in- 
spire any definite hope nor ardent longing in be- 
ings now material and mortaL But the heart 
bounds with joy at the prospect of the regenerated 
spirit in an immortal body, reigning with the glori 
fied Saviour on the re-created earth ; covered with 
the brightness beaming from His splendors, en- 
riched with whatever is pure and glorious, and un- 
fading, and upon which will be no battle scars, nor 
any grave mounds, but all moral and all material 
glories in absolute perfection. The lost Paradise 

* Gen. i. 31. 



NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EAETH. 129 

restored, will doubtless be, as the name implies, a 
vast garden of delight, and be enriched with the 
choicest fruits, and the most fragrant flowers. Ac- 
cording to one writer, the giant cedar and the state- 
ly fir, the grey willows and the blossomed almond, 
the umbrageous sycamore and the graceful accacia, 
the green box and the odorous myrtle shall mingle 
the various hues of their foliage ; while the olive, 
the fig, the vine and the rose still cluster around 
man's peaceful habitation. Then none shall hurt 
nor destroy in all God's holy mountain, for the 
earth shall be covered with the glory of the Lord 
as the waters cover the sea.* Violence shall no 
more be heard in the land, wasting nor destruction 
within its borders. They shall call the walls salva- 
tion, and the gates praise, f 

MATERIAL NATURE IN AN ECSTACY* 

To celebrate the Messiah's return to make all 
things new, and establish His Kingdom, and reign 
in righteousness, the Psalmist commands : 

Let the Heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad ; 

Let the sea roar and the fullness thereof ! 

Let the field be joyful and all that is therein, 

Then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lordf 



* Isaiah xi. 9. t Isa. lx. 18-21. % Psalm xcvi. 11-13. 



130 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

With trumpets and sound of cornet 

Make a joyful noise before the Lord the King. 

Let the floods clap their hands, and 

Let the hills be joyful together 

Before the Lord ; for He cometh to judge the earth : 

With righteousness shall He judge the world, 

And the people with equity* 

OlST THE GLORIFIED EARTH ALL SAINTS MEET, 

It will be the place of holy re-union, of mutual 
recognition, and there will be no more parting. All 
saints, of each dispensation, will sit down with 
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob : 

Wh'ere a blasted world shall brighten 

Underneath a bluer sphere, 

And a softer, gentler sunshine, 

Shed its healing splendor here ; 

"Where earth's barren vales shall blossom, 

Putting on their robe of green, 

And a purer, fairer Eden 

Be where only wastes have been, 

Where a King in kingly glory, 

Such as earth has never known, 

Shall assume the righteous sceptre, 

Claim and wear His holy crown. 

There believers meet and rest 

With the holy and the blest, f 

Herein will be enjoyed the full liberty of the 
sons of God, the riches of His glory, the glory 



* Psalm xcviii. 4-8. t Bonar. 



NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 131 

that excelleth, and the knowledge of God's glory. 
Anticipating this, St. Paul exclaimed, Our light 
affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for 
us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
glory /*■ The brightest glories of earth are tern 
poral, but the glories of the recreated earth will be 
eternal. At God's right hand. are pleasures for all 
and for ever. When the saints possess the King- 
dom, under the whole Heaven each may exclaim : 
Glory ! thou art here in all thy brightness ! Af- 
fection! in thy embrace, pure and abiding, thou art 
here ! Happiness ! thou art here, in all thy mani- 
festations ! Devotion ! thou art here, in full celes- 
tial ardor ! Adoration ! here is one worthy of thy 
fervor ! Righteousness ! on this firm throne all 
here admire thee ! Portals to Every Glory ! ye 
are all open ? Saviour ! Thou didst open them ! 
And for this love our immortal hands take the royal 
diadem and crown Thee Lord of All ! But what 
has this to do with the Temple of Sinful Pleasure ? 
If the reader is therein 

THE VOICE OF MERCY SWEETLY CALLS YOU ! 

Therefore heed the entreaty : Gome out ! Gome 
out! Escape its woes and horrors! Seek pleas- 

* 2 Cor. iv. 17. 



132 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

nres that leave no sting behind ! That you may 
partake of the celestial bliss that flows like a river, 
but abounds like the sea, the hand of Love, has 
opened the door of escape, and is stretched forth to 
help you ! That you may share the joys described 
take hold of Christ's stretched-out hand, and be 
led through the door of atonement into the narrow 
path of life. Say to old companions, "I wili not 
go with you to hell,' 9 but be led by Jesus to the 
serene River of Life, * singing : 

He leadeth me ! Oh ! blessed thought, 
Oh ! words with heav'nly comfort fraught ; 
By waters still, o'er troubled sea, 
Still 'tis His hand that leadeth me, 
And when my task on earth is done, 
When, by His grace, the victory's won, 
E'en Death's cold wave I wili not flee, 
Since God through Jordan leadeth me,f 

God the Father loves you ; God the Son died for 
you ; God the Holy Ghost waits to cleanse, direct 
and comfort you. Therefore come out of Pleasure's 
Temple, and seek the Lord while He may be found, 
and call upon Him while He is near. 

Let the wicked forsake his way, 

And the man of strong appetite% his thoughts, 

And let him return unto the Lord, 

And He will have mercy upon him< 

And to our God, for He will multiply par don. % 



* Psalm xxiii. 3. f Rev. J. H. Gilmore. % Marginal readings. § Isa. lv. 7. 



NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 138 

If yon liave been long in Sin's Temple, and des- 
pised many mercies, yon need not despair. That 
you may enjoy the bliss of His Kingdom, in love- 
tones He says : 

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, 

And he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat ; 

Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price % 

Eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight in fatness. ^ 

Accept the complete salvation that is in Christ 
Jesus, and you will have part in the " first resur- 
rection," or be one of the raptured saints, and, after 
the creation of the new Heaven and the new earth, 
pin 

THE TRITTM»HAL PROCESSION OF THE SAVED. 

This was grandly typified by the ancient hosts of 
Israel, who were led by Kiito David. The Ark of 
the Covenant was the visible Representative of Je- 
hovah. On the Mercy-seat His glory burst forth 
brighter than the sun. When it was taken to the 
place prepared for its reception in the City of Jeru- 
salem, there was an imposing procession and joyful 
accompaniments. The ark was borne by the sons 
of the Levites. The singers had psalteries, harps 
and cymbals. The priests preceded the Ark, blow- 

*Isa*lv, 1-& 



134 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

ing silver trumpets ; the singers chanted joyfully, 
and the multitudes of Israel voiced the sounds of 
joy. On their way to the Holy City, the fine linen- 
robed singers, accompanied by the instruments, 
sang antiphonally the Twenty-fourth Psalm. As 
the Symbol of Jehovah is now near the city, the 
triumphal sound is heard : 

Lift up your heads, O, ye gates, 

And be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors, 

And the King of Glory shall come in ! 

As ii the gates were endowed with voice and rea- 
son, by a bold poetical figure, in their behalf is 
sung : 

WHO IS THIS KING OF GLORY'? 

Other singers answer : 

The Lord God strong and mighty, 
The Lord mighty in battle ! 

To call forth the same inquiry, in order to add an 
additional specification, the mandate is repeated, 
and the answer sung : 

THE LORD 05 IfOSTS, HE IL THE KING OF GLORY ! 

When the Ark is placed in the place prepared, 
sacrifices of peace are offered, David blesses the 



NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 135 

people, and gives them refreshment, and commands 
Asaph and his choristers to sing : 

Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name, 
Make known His deeds among the people ; 
Talk ye of all His wondrous works, 
Glory ye in His holy name. 

THE ANTI-TYPICAL PROCESSION INTO THE HOLY 

CITY. 

More triumphantly than ancient .Israel, with 
Kind David at the head, entered the Old Jerusa- 
lem, preceded by the Saviour, the whole company 
of the Redeemed, with shoutings of ecstacy, will 
descend from the sea of glass into the New Jerusa- 
lem. And if the hosts of Israel were so elated as 
they saw the verdant slopes of the earthly Jerusalem, 
what gladness will thrill the redeemed when they 
behold the heavenly Jerusalem, the whole struc- 
ture — wails and gates and streets — a solid mass of 
gems set in transparent gold, as ii millions of worlds 
had rendered their jewelry to adorn the new earth' s 
metropolis ! All who leave the Sinful Temple of 
Earth's Pleasure's will behold its glories and its 
blending colors of a double rainbow, and join in 
its ravishing melodies. Some affirm that there will 
not be a literal city, and that the gates of pearl 



136 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

and streets of gold are only symbolical. But if the 
greatest treasures of earth and heaven have been 
gathered by God's architect — Inspiration, and built 
into a cloudless, deathless and tearless city, O, how 
invaluable and super-excellent must be the spirit- 
ual riches symbolized ! One divine affirms that, all 
the monarchs that ever reigned, with all the wealth 
they ever claimed, and all the wisdom they ever 
wielded, and all the millions they ever commanded, 
laboring unitedly and incessantly from Adam to the 
present hour, could scarcely have built the mil- 
lionth part of such a structure ; yet nothing less 
magnificent would answer even for an emblem of 
the saints' future home and inheritance Though 
eye hath not seen, nor ear heard the things that 
God hath prepared for them that love Him, God 

hath revealed them to us by His Spirit. His Spirit 
indited the description of the Holy City, and as it 
agrees with the prose portions of God's word, we 
believe that all whose hands are clean and their 
hearts pure,* shall worship God and the Lamb in a 
literal Holy City, the New Jerusalem. 

We sing of the realms of the blest, 
Of the city so bright and so fair, 

And oft are its glories confess't, 
But what must it be to be there I 



*Psa. xxiv. 2-5. 



NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 137 

THE JUBILEE OF JOY OYER THE ABSENCE OF EYIL. 

The material glories of the Holy City entrance the 
eye, but the paeans of the saved enrapture the soul ! 
The throne of God and of the Lamb is the city' s 
great attraction, and shining in its brightness, all 
the saints surround it, singing : Here the sun- 
blaze never scorches, neither is there frost nor blight. 
Here no winds howl, neither is there storm nor tem- 
pest. Here is no conflagration, neither pestilence 
nor famine. Here is no decrepitude through age, 
neither helplessness from infantile infirmity. No 
war-clarion here sounds, neither the sword' s-clash 
nor cannon' s-boom. Satan is not here, neither temp- 
tation nor fiery trial. Here is no sickness, neither 
pain, nor any more sorrow. Agony in solution 
trickles not here, for the source of tears God has 
dried up. Here is no death, neither coffins nor 
hearses ; no funeral dirge, neither tolling bell, nor 
clods rattling on coffins ; neither funeral sermons, 
nor vacant seats, nor missing voices. Louder and 
still louder the joyful victors sing their climax- 
chorus : 

O, Death ! where is thy sting 9 

O, grave ! where is thy victory j 

Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory. 

Through Jesus Christ our Lord ! - 



* 1 Cor. xv. 55-57. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 




The New Song and Grand 
Doxology. 

ATAN has been dethroned. Death is van- 
quished. The revolted kingdom has been 
recovered back to God* All enemies have 
been put under Christ's feet. God is now 
all and in all. Christ shall reign for ever, for of 
His Kingdom there shall be no end. The sweet 
soprano of glorified children, the rich alto of re- 
deemed women, the moving tenor and rich bass of 
blood-bought men, join in the New Song. 

Its theme ever new — the Father's Sovereign 
Love ! Its key-note ever new — Redemption through 
His Sort s blood ! Its harmony ever new — the ser- 
aphic voices of saints attuned to the musical pitch 
of cherubim and seraphim ! Its choristers ever 
new — the glorified redeemed ones surrounding the 



* 1 Cor. xv, 24-26. 



THE NEW SONG AND GRAND DOXOLOGY. 139 

throne! Its singing galleries ever new — the Me- 
tropolis of the new heavens and the new earth — the 
Holy City, the New Jerusalem, decorated with 
charms excelling those of Eden and eternally radi- 
ant with the diffusive brightness of Zion's glorified 
and reigning King. The new song's glad chorus, 
"Unto Him who loved us and washed us from our 
sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and 
priests unto God and His Father ; to Him be glory 
and dominion forever and ever. Amen, 5 ' And 
while the precious infants warble the grace notes, 
in the grand diapason-chorus, angels and arch- 
angels triumphantly join, the Voice from the Throne 
commands : 

Praise our God all ye His servants, 

And ye that fear Him, small and great. 

And I heard a great multitude, 

And as the voice of many waters, 

And as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying : 

Alleluia ; for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.* 

Glory to the Lamb for ever and ever : for 

Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God, 

By Thy blood out of every kindred, tongue and people, 

And hath made us unto our God kings and priests, 

And we now reign on the new earth, f 

All who sing the new song's chorus, also unite in 
its grand doxology. 



* Rev. xix. 5, 6. t Rev. v. 9. 



140 THE TEMPLE OF PLEASURE. 

St. John says : And I beheld, and I heard the 
voice of many angels round about the throne, and 
the living creatures and the Elders . and the num- 
ber of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, 

and thousands of thousands ; saying with a loud 
voice : 

worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive 
power and riches and wisdom and strength, 
and honor, and glory, and blessing! 
And every creature which is in heaven, 
and on the earth * * * heard i saying : 
blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, 
be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, 
and unto the lamb for ever and ever ! 

Reader, — Denying ungodliness and worldly 
lusts, may we live soberly, righteously and godly 
in this present world ; looking for that blessed hope, 
and the glorious appearing of the great God, even 
our Saviour Jesus Christ ; who gave Himself for us 
that He might redeem us from ail iniquity, and pu- 
rify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of 
good works. May we each reign in the New 
Jerusalem, sing the new song, and join in the 
grand Doxology in Excelsis. 

Farewell. 



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